The Hand That's Dealt
by hubdub15
Summary: When Daryl Dixon receives a package left on his doorstep, he had no idea how much his life was about to change. AU-No zombies, ever.
1. Chapter 1

Daryl was awoken to the sounds of a crying animal somewhere outside of his apartment building, punctuating the usually quiet neighborhood where his apartment building was. And for some reason, it seemed to be coming from right outside his door.

He closed his eyes, hoping that whatever animal was out there would get the hint and leave, but when it didn't stop after a minute, Daryl groaned and stood from his bed, shuffling towards his apartment door. Maybe shooing the animal would get it to shut up and leave.

When he opened the door to the apartment and looked down, he immediately became alert at the sight of a baby carrier on his doorstep, the squirming pink bundle inside the source of the crying. This was the last thing he was expecting. Whose baby was this? What was it doing here? What kind of shit parent leaves their kid outside in the middle of the night on a stranger's doorstep?

Daryl knew he couldn't just leave the baby outside, so he picked up the carrier and brought it inside, trying to think of a way to get the kid to be quiet. As the carrier started to move, though, it immediately quieted down, only hiccuping. He didn't dare stop, staring to pace the apartment, attempting to come up with a plan. He would call Rick in the morning to turn the kid in. Daryl could stand a night taking care of it. It was so tiny. Who leaves a baby by itself?

"Where did you come from?" Daryl asked it aloud, looking down in the carrier. The baby didn't answer, already fast asleep from the motion of Daryl's pacing.

He noticed a thick envelope tucked by the baby's side, the top open. Maybe he could find out whoever the mom was in that envelope. He extracted it carefully, putting the carrier in the crook of his arm to allow him both hands to look at the papers inside.

The first one in the stack is a blank sheet of paper, with only a few words scrawled on it in unfamiliar handwriting.

'I can't do this. She's yours now.'

 _What the hell does that mean_? Daryl wondered. So this person definitely abandoned their kid, but why did they pick his doorstep?

The next piece of paper is a birth certificate, apparently for the baby in the carrier. Name, Ann-Marie Lynn Dixon.

A thousand thoughts began rushing though Daryl's head. _Dixon? Why would her last name be Dixon? Was this Merle's kid?_

Daryl remembered that it couldn't be Merle's kid. He had gotten a vasectomy to me sure that he couldn't have any kids and be saddled with child support. Merle never wanted to be a father. Deep down, Daryl did, but he knew it would never happen for him. He didn't deserve a kid.

Daryl felt his fingers going numb as he continued to read the birth certificate. Mother, Emily Park. _Wasn't that the girl he met at the bar a few months back?_ Daryl tried to count back how long it had been. He hadn't meant to hook up with her, but they were both so drunk that was the only place it was going to lead when she took him back to her apartment. That was a year ago.

He looked down at the baby again. He didn't know much about them, but from what it looked like, he guessed it has to be at least a few months old. Old enough that some of her features were familiar to Daryl. Familiar enough that Daryl the only reason he looked at the birth certificate again was for clarification.

Father.

Daryl Dixon.

 _Shit._

—-

It's just past seven o'clock in the morning, and Daryl could already tell that the early August day was going to be as hot as Georgia'll get out. He was grateful that he was able to fix the air-conditioning in the little house without having to call one of actual repairmen. He hated paying for something he knew how to do by himself. He just didn't have the parts on him. He wasn't looking forward to working outside.

He turned his attention back to his daughter, who is sitting at the counter, already in her school clothes as she happily munched on her Cheerios, swinging her feet back and forth as she ate her breakfast.

"You ready for your first day of school, baby girl?" Daryl asked her, drinking some coffee from the mug in his hand, wincing at how bitter it was. He hated the taste, but he didn't sleep well the night before and needed the energy.

She nodded vigorously, setting her spoon down and swallowing quickly. "Sophia told me that the first day is the funnest." She answered, smiling.

"I'm sure it will be. Now come on, we got to get goin'. Go brush your teeth." He told her, cleaning up her breakfast as she ran into her tiny bathroom to do as he said. A single bark from their dog outside alerted Daryl that someone was there. Daryl walked into the living room and watched as Carol entered with Sophia, closing the door behind them.

"I brought over that camera you wanted." Carol told him, holding up a digital camera in her hand.

When Ann-Marie was first left at Daryl's doorstep five years ago, Carol was the first person he accepted help from. She had heard through Tobin about Ann-Marie and since Daryl was over in her shop frequently for work, helping her put together displays and fixing various problems that came with the old building, she told Daryl that if he ever needed any help to give her a call. He had immediately shot her down, not wanting anyone in his business, especially now that he had a child to take care of, but after a night where Ann-Marie wouldn't stop crying, he called Carol to enlist her help in calming the child down. Since then, Carol had become a staple in the young girl's life, teaching Daryl how to care for a baby properly and always being his first call whenever he had a question, even going so far as to watch her while Daryl was working. Daryl didn't know how to express how grateful he was for her help, but he did it in the best way he could by beating Carol's husband, Ed, into a pulp when he found out he had been abusing her and Sophia, forcing him to divorce Carol, leave her all the money, and get lost, or else Daryl would kill him. Ed was all too willing to skip town after that, following Daryl's instructions to a T. When it came to threats, Daryl Dixon's were not empty, and the entire town knew it after Ed had left. Since then, the two families have been thick as thieves, watching out for each other to show how appreciative they were of the other. The fact that they were now next-door neighbors happened completely by chance. When Daryl bought the house for his family, Carol just so happened to buy the house next door to get away from the place she shared with Ed. Too many bad memories, she had said. Neither one knew until moving day.

Daryl gestured with his head for them to follow him into the kitchen. "You two want anything?" He asked, walking to the fridge.

"No, we already ate. Just wanted to drop off the camera and see Ann-Marie on her first day of school." Carol told him, resting her hands on Sophia's shoulders.

"I'm ready!" Ann-Marie announced, running into the kitchen. Her face lit up when she saw Carol and Sophia and ran over to hug them, squeezing them both tightly before stepping back. "Why are you here?" She asked, looking to her dad for the answer.

"We wanted to see you before your first day of school, pumpkin. Come on, let's get a picture of you." Carol said, herding the group outside.

The Dixon's blue tick hound, Beau, circled the group when they stepped outside, head-butting them for attention. Daryl rubbed him behind his ears absent-mindedly and hooked a finger around his collar so he couldn't jump in the picture as Carol snapped a picture of Ann-Marie with her backpack on in front of the large oak tree in the front yard. She was growing up too fast.

"Come on, Daddy!" Ann-Marie called, smiling at him once her picture was taken, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Yeah, Daryl, jump in there." Carol told him as he smiled at his daughter, stepping forward and hefting her into his arms as Beau walked forward and sat patiently beside him. A small part in the back of his mind feared when she would be big enough where he couldn't pick her up anymore.

He pushed that thought out of his head as he exaggerated his grunt. "You been sneaking sweets without me knowing, girl?" He commented, raising an eyebrow at her.

" _Daddy_." She sighed, rolling her eyes before focusing back on Carol.

"Okay, you two, say cheese!" Carol said, raising her camera up.

"Cheese!" Ann-Marie repeated, grinning for her. Daryl smiled for the picture but refused to say cheese. There were some things he drew a line for.

"Daddy, you didn't say cheese." Ann-Marie accused, poking him in the chest with her little finger.

"I smiled, don't you worry." He told her, kissing her cheek before setting her down.

Carol took one more picture with Sophia and Ann-Marie together before they bade their goodbyes, walking back towards their own house.

"Come on, sugar bean, let's go to school." He told her, helping her up into the truck and in her booster seat, allowing Beau to jump in the back with her before climbing in the driver's seat and driving towards the school, turning on the radio and smiling slightly as Ann-Marie started singing along.

"You excited?" He asked her, looking at her expression in the rear-view mirror.

Ann-Marie nodded. "Henry's in my class." She announced happily. Henry was one of her best friends in pre-school, the son of the only other single parent in their little town, besides Carol. Rumors were thrown around about Kate Shaw because she mostly kept to herself, much like Daryl, but mostly over how she was not Henry's real mother. His real mother was in fact her sister, who had shown up pregnant on Kate's doorstep and then left as soon as Henry was born.

The only reason he knew all of this was because of Tobin, who despite keeping his promise not to force his way into Daryl's life, felt it was his duty to keep Daryl abreast to all of the goings-on around town. Daryl swore that man clucked more than a hen.

"That'll be fun, knowing someone." He responded.

"Henry told me he was nervous yesterday. He thinks Mrs. Williams is scary."

Daryl snorted at that. "Mrs. Williams's bark is worse than her bite, you tell him that."

He pulled into the school parking lot, which was for the elementary and middle school. Their town was so small that the two were housed in the same large building, with the high school just a mile down the road. Daryl still got a rotten taste in his mouth whenever he thought of his own high school experience. Dropping out and ending up here after refusing to follow Merle anymore had to be one of the best things that had ever happened to him.

"You ready?" He turned in his seat to look at Ann-Marie, but she had already undone her seat belt and opened the door, jumping down onto the asphalt.

"Come on!" She called, running around to his side of the car to wait for him.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He assured her, reaching around to roll down the window for Beau before climbing out of the car and slamming the door behind him. "You're not too old to hold my hand, are ya?" He asked, reaching his hand towards her.

She smiled up at him and responded by taking his large hand, attempting to lace her fingers through his as they walked into the building. He felt her steps falter as they neared her classroom door until she fully stopped a few feet away at the sight of her teacher, looking up to Daryl with fear in her eyes when he looked down to see what had happened.

"What's wrong, baby?" He asked, crouching down in front of her.

"What if they don't like me?" She whispered, looking to the other kids swarming around the classroom with their parents.

"You hush." He ordered, pushing some hair behind her ear. Light brown, just like his had been when he was younger. "They're gonna love you. And you're gonna have fun. You already said Henry's in there with you, so you don't need to worry about havin' a friend." He reminded her.

She nodded, looking down at her hands. He could tell how nervous she was. She was usually bubbly and energetic, almost bouncing off the walls, ready to face whatever came her way. All of that had gone away and she was now acting reserved and quiet. She was never like that.

"Hey." Daryl said, making Ann-Marie look at him. "Don't you worry. You're gonna learn so much with that big brain of yours you won't even notice those other kids. And just remember, I'll be here at 12 to pick you up and we'll go to Tyreese's for lunch to celebrate your first day."

She perked up at that. "Right at 12?" She asked.

Daryl smiled. "I'll even be here five minutes early just for you."

Ann-Marie grinned and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing tightly. "I love you, Daddy." She whispered to him.

Daryl's heart hurt from they way it swelled at her words. All the work he's done to give her the life she deserved was worth it hearing those words from her. He never thought he would have someone that loved him, let alone his own child. That was never in the cards for him. Fate was funny in the way it dealt him his hand.

"Love you too, baby girl." He responds, kissing her cheek as he pulled back and stood. "Now let's make you someone else's problem for four hours." He smiled.

She rolled her eyes again, a mirror image of her father, before pulling him towards the door.

"Well there you are, Miss Ann-Marie! I was worried you weren't going to show up!" Karen said when the Dixons entered the room.

Ann-Marie immediately looked panicked. "Are we late?" She demanded.

Karen laughed, shaking her head. "I'm just teasing you. You must get your seriousness from your daddy."

Ann-Marie nodded, going to look for her assigned cubby on the wall they had gotten on 'back-to-school night' a few days back. Daryl couldn't remember anything like that when he was in school, but his parents never cared about his education, and he hadn't been too interested either.

"She seems excited." Karen commented, crossing her arms. Daryl and the Williamses had a long relationship, ever since Daryl had walked into Tyreese's diner asking about work. When Ann-Marie came, Tyreese and Karen immediately started spoiling her rotten every time she came into the diner. Since they didn't have children of their own, they always mooched off of other people's kids, and with most parents, they would have been happy to get their kids off their hands for even just an hour. But Daryl was different. Ann-Marie was all he had, and when someone else tried to hog her, he got a little possessive. The feeling lessened as he grew used to Tyreese and Karen, but he still felt pangs from the green-eyes monster when they would steal her away while they were in the diner.

Daryl nodded in agreement. "It's all she's talked about for the past few days."

"She's smart. I'm sure she'll love it." Karen told him, resting a hand on his upper arm as if she could feel his own anxiousness at leaving Ann-Marie by herself.

Daryl grunted in response as Ann-Marie ran back up to him, giving him one last hug around the legs.

"You can go now if you want to, Daddy. I think I'll be fine." She whispered rather loudly.

Daryl smirked and bent down, giving her a kiss on the crown of her head. "Of course you will. You're a Dixon." He told her.

She looked back up and gave him one last grin before running to find her desk. Daryl was still grateful that no one in the town knows about his own past. From what he'd heard through Tobin, they just thought he was a hardworking and trustworthy, albeit somewhat standoffish, single father raising a precocious little girl that the entire town loved. Here, Dixon wasn't a mark of shame. Ann-Marie could take pride in her last name.

"The only gossip of interest about you is your brother, Merle." Tobin told him once. "No one knows who he is."

Daryl was sure as hell going to keep it that way. Merle rarely showed up to visit his younger brother unless he needed a place to crash for a few weeks or he wanted to see his niece. For some reason, Merle turned into a different man whenever Ann-Marie was around. Maybe he could tell how Daryl didn't want any bad influences around his daughter. He vowed a long time ago that he was going to try to be the best dad for his little girl. Better than his piece-of-shit dad ever was for him. She was not going to turn out like they did.

Daryl nodded to Karen before leaving, waving to Ann-Marie one last time before leaving the classroom. He loved Ann-Marie, but he really didn't like other people's kids. He thought most of them were annoying.

Daryl catches Kate Shaw's eye in the hallway as she's dropping off Henry, nodding to her in acknowledgement when she does the same for him. He won't lie and say that she's not a pretty woman. He just hadn't had, and doesn't have, time to even think about anything close to that while he's taking care of Ann-Marie. He's completely devoted to his daughter, and she'll always be number one, even if he does find someone willing to put up with his sorry ass.

"Daryl!"

Somehow, Daryl had found his way outside, his feet automatically taking him to his truck while he was thinking. He was unfazed by the sudden jolt back to reality and looked to see who had called his name.

Lori Grimes, his best friend's wife, was walking towards him with a large smile on her face, a blonde girl walking next to her. Must be one of the high schoolers she counsels.

"Did you just drop off Ann-Marie?" Lori asked when she finally reached where Daryl stood.

Daryl nodded, pulling a cigarette out of the pack in his back pocket. He made sure not to smoke around Ann-Marie. He lit it quickly, taking a long drag and blowing the smoke away from the two women.

"I bet she was excited. It was all she could talk about at dinner last Saturday." Lori smiled. "She nervous at all?"

"Just a little." Daryl told her, leaning against the side of his truck.

"She'll do great." Lori assured him. "I don't want to keep you any longer, but I'm going around to some of the parents I know well to introduce the new music teacher for the elementary and middle school. Daryl, this is Beth Greene. Beth, this is Daryl Dixon. He has a daughter that just started kindergarten today." Lori explained to the girl, bringing her to Daryl's attention for the first time since Lori started talking.

After looking at her closely, Daryl could tell that she wasn't a girl at all, but a young-looking woman. She could have definitely passed for one of the high-schoolers down the road if she wanted to. Daryl noticed she was wearing those oxford-looking shoes with a simple navy dress with tiny stars all over it. When he finally focused on her face, Daryl feels a slight tug in his stomach.

She's easily the prettiest girl he's ever seen, her blonde hair curling softly around her face, making her blue eyes look even bluer. She's short, but he doesn't mind. He looked at her pink lips after his eyes skimmed over her flawless nose and noticed they were moving. _Shit, they're moving. What did she say?_

He looked down and noticed her hand was out. He shook it, pumping once before dropping it. "Nice to meet you." He tried, and apparently that's a good answer to whatever she had said because neither woman looked at him like he was crazy.

"Well, we won't keep you any longer. Will I see you on Thursday?" Lori asked, starting to guide Beth away.

It's hard to get his mind away from Beth Greene. Right. Poker night with Rick and the guys. Daryl nodded. "Is it all right if I bring Ann-Marie?"

Lori rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You always ask that, and it's always all right. I'll keep her preoccupied while you do your man thing with Rick and them."

She waved at him one last time before escorting Beth into the building he had just left. Daryl swore he saw Beth look over her shoulder once at him as she walked into the building, but that couldn't have happened. No girl as pretty as Beth gave him the time of day, let alone gave him a double-take.

Daryl stood there for a few moments before shaking his head, climbing in his truck and turning the ignition, the engine roaring to life. He pushed all thoughts of pretty Beth Greene from his mind, trying to focus on the appointments he had that day. He took a half-day so he could spend time with Ann-Marie after her first day of school. After a few minutes of driving, he felt like he'd succeeded in pushing the music teacher from his mind.

So why did he still feel that pull in his stomach?

 **A huge thank you to arrowsandangels for beta-reading this chapter for me!**

 **This is my first Bethyl fanfiction, so please leave your thoughts/comments and let me know what you think! (Name of the story may change)**

 **Thank you for reading! Until next time~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh my goodness. I can't believe the response to this story. You guys are amazing. Thank you all so much for your kind words! I hope this chapter will live up to the first** **︎**

 **This chapter is from Beth's POV, but don't worry, we'll be back to Daryl and Ann-Marie in the next.**

* * *

When Beth Greene pulled up to her old elementary school for her first day as the new music teacher, she didn't know what to expect. To most of the people in town, she was still little Bethy, Hershel and Annette's daughter, still seen as a child even though she had gotten her master's degree in music teaching. But when she moved back home, she was a child, still in the looming shadows of her parents and her older siblings.

"You can do this." She whispered quietly to herself as she took several deep breaths. She had student-taught before, this was no different.

She climbed out of her car, grabbing her bag and locking the door behind her. She was supposed to meet her new boss this morning, but apparently, she was not going to be able to meet with them like she had hoped. The boss's son had gotten sick and she needed to stay home to take care of him. Beth had no idea what she was supposed to do on her first day. The principal had told her she wasn't teaching any classes, so why was she here?

"Beth!"

Beth turned and smiled when she saw Lori Grimes walking towards her. She had babysat Carl a few times while she was still in high school and had started a friendly relationship with his mother. "Hi, Lori. How are you?" She asked, meeting the woman halfway.

"I'm good. Patrice asked me to come over and show you around a bit. She said it would be best if you just walked around to the classrooms today and introduced yourself to the teachers and the kids. You can set up your classroom after you've introduced yourself." Lori explained, giving her a hug in greeting. "I also thought it might be good if you met some of the parents. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me. Lead the way." Beth smiled, trying to hide the ball of nervous energy forming in her stomach. _I can do this_.

"Well, here's a parent now. I think you'll like him. Daryl!" Lori called, grabbing Beth by the upper arm to guide her towards a man who had just walked out of the building.

Beth could tell just by first glance that this man was rough around the edges, and definitely didn't look like the other parent types walking their children into the school. He walked with his head down and his shoulders hunched, like he was trying to make himself smaller and unnoticeable, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his jeans and his too-long hair shielding part of his face. When Lori called his name, he looked up and stopped, waiting for them to come to him without saying a word.

The nervousness in Beth's stomach grew worse as she got closer to Daryl and noticed how attractive he was. She wasn't unfamiliar with boys, but most of the ones she had dated in college were just that: boys. None of them had fully matured yet, and there was nothing 'boyish' about the man standing in front of her.

He wasn't buff, but as he moved, Beth noticed the taut muscles in his arms moving smoothly under his skin, tanned healthily from working outside, considering the tools Beth saw in the back of his truck as they were walking up to him. He fixed Beth with a pair of piercing blue eyes as he lit his cigarette, making her frown internally. She had never liked guys who smoked. But she couldn't deny how handsome he was, even smoking his cancer stick.

"I-it's nice to meet you." Beth told him once Lori had formally introduced them, sticking her hand out for him to shake and mentally kicking herself for stuttering. She had been around attractive men before and was completely fine; why was she suddenly stuttering around this one?

He stared at her for a moment before taking her hand and shaking it, dropping it quickly. "Nice to meet you." He repeated, taking another drag of his cigarette and blowing the smoke upwards.

Beth wanted to both protest and sigh in relief when Lori started to lead her away, unable to focus on their conversation as she stared at Daryl. She couldn't look away, for some reason, and for a good reason. The longer she looked at him, she more her stomach started flopping around, uncomfortable, but in a good way. _Why am I reacting like this? He's just a man_. Beth scolded herself, following Lori into the building once she has said goodbye, but she sneaked a look over her shoulder to catch once last glimpse of the man. When she did, she noticed that he was staring after her as well, which made her blush.

"It should be a pretty easy day," Lori said, breaking Beth from her thoughts as she spoke. "I know most of the kids' parents, and you shouldn't have any problems with them. They might be a little difficult, but that just comes with the territory. You have a wealth of patience, from what I remember." Lori smiled.

Beth smiled back. "I like to think I do."

"Then you'll be fine. If you need anything, the front office is at the end of this hallway, the last door on the left. This hallway has all the kindergarten classes, and the rest of the elementary classes are in the long hallway on the right. Patrice told the teachers you'd be coming in to visit the classrooms from eight to nine. The town hasn't grown much since you went to college, so we still only have two classes per grade. Shouldn't take you too long to go to each one." Lori stopped outside of one of the classroom doors and gestured inside. "This is your classroom."

Beth thanked her and stepped inside, frowning slightly at the plain classroom. It looked like a prison, with white cinderblock walls and vinyl-tiled floors, painfully sterile and generic. There were several chairs stacked up into columns along one of the walls with an upright piano, leaving much of the space empty, save a desk in the corner for Beth. It even _smelled_ the same as when Beth had gone to school there. Even with all the decorations she had brought in the back of her car to decorate her room, she knew she was going to need more.

"It's definitely a blank canvas." Beth commented, turning back to face Lori.

"That's being generous. I was going to say a looney bin." They both laughed.

"Well, I think you're all set. If you have any questions, Natania's down the hall in the front office. Do you need anything right now?"

"I think I'm good." Beth said, walking over to her desk and setting her bag down.

"Good. I'll see you after school then." With a wave, Lori left, leaving Beth alone in her classroom.

 _Her classroom_.

Beth couldn't help but grin at the thought, even though she was still nervous. After studying for so many years, she was finally here. She was a teacher with her own classroom and her own students, finally out from under the watchful eye of the judgmental teachers she had to deal with her last semester of college. She would even be able to decorate like she wanted. The rules about classroom personalization were pretty lax in the Coleson school district compared to other districts, and there weren't many restrictions on what Beth could use.

She looked around the room slowly, already thinking of where she was going to place all the things she had in the back of her car, worrying just a little if everything would fit. From the looks of the back of her car, it was like she had packed the entire furniture section of a Goodwill in there.

Beth shamelessly took out her phone and snapped a picture of herself sitting at her desk, sending it to her family before sending it to Tara and Rosita, her two best friends. She didn't wait for any responses, leaving her phone on her desk as she made her way to the first classroom, the knot on her stomach returning when she neared the door. What if she tripped on her words and the kids laughed? She knew that elementary school kids probably wouldn't be that cruel, but the irrational fear was still there.

The door was open when she reached the classroom, knocking on the frame to get the teacher's attention. The curly-haired woman standing at the front of the classroom looked over to Beth and smiled when she saw her.

"You must be Beth." She assumed, walking over to her with her hand out. So far, so good.

Beth shook it and nodded. "That's me."

"It's so nice to meet you. I'm Karen Williams, but just call me Karen. We're so excited to have a music teacher at the school. Our last one moved to Pensacola with her husband. Air Force." She explained.

"I'm excited to be here too." Beth smiled. "I was afraid I would have to move away from Georgia to find a job."

"And instead you found one in your old school." Karen said, smiling wryly. "Come on, I'll let you introduce yourself to the kids." She grabbed Beth's arm and pulled her into the classroom, calling for the kids' attention as Beth tried not to stand too awkwardly at the front.

"Okay everyone, settle down and sit in your seats. Your music teacher, Miss Greene, is here to introduce herself. Now, I want you all to listen carefully and be quiet while she's talking, okay?" Karen said, waiting until most of the kids had nodded before she sat back at her desk, nodding to Beth to start.

"It's so nice to meet you all." Beth told them, smiling. "Like Mrs. Williams said, I'm Miss Greene, but you all can call me Miss Beth. We'll be learning all about famous composers and musicians and how to sing and read music in class." Beth paused, not knowing what to say next. She really should have practiced more. "Do any of you have a favorite song?"

A little hand raised in the back of the class. Beth smiled at the young girl with the raised hand, happy that one of the children wasn't shy. Her light brown hair was in pigtails, her blue eyes sparkling as she waited for the Beth to call on her. She was wearing a little jean jacket over white t-shirt and poofy pink skirt, complete with a pair of small cowboy boots. Beth wondered if she had insisted on dressing herself for her first day.

"Yes?" Beth asked, pointing at her.

"Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival." The little girl answered with a grin.

Beth stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. How did a little girl know what that song was? She turned to Karen, who was covering her smile with her hand, trying not to laugh when she looked at Beth.

Beth looked back to the little girl, still reeling. "Really?" Beth questioned, trying to make sure that the little girl had actually said what she said, instead of Beth having a minor aneurism.

The girl nodded soundly. "It's one of my daddy's favorites too." She smiled.

"You're stupid. That's not a real song." Another little boy said, frowning at her before Beth could respond.

"Jeffrey." Karen scolded. "We do not call other people stupid. Apologize to Ann-Marie."

 _That must be Daryl's daughter_. Beth thought as she looked at her. She could definitely see him in her features. There was no denying they were related.

"Sorry." Jeffrey mumbled, resting his chin on his hand. Ann-Marie didn't look convinced.

"I like Wheels on the Bus." The little boy sitting next to Ann-Marie murmured just loud enough for Beth to hear. Several children voiced their agreement with him. Beth saw Ann-Marie pat the boy's arm, who smiled back at her shyly.

"That's one of my favorites too." Beth said, smiling warmly at him. "I won't take up any more of Mrs. Williams's time, but I can't wait to see you all in music class on Wednesday." She took a step back and waved at all the kids as she left, smiling to herself at their little chorus of 'Thank you's' at Karen's prompting.

The first half of the day flew by for Beth, the introductions in the classrooms taking up less time than she had expected, which left her plenty of free time to set up her classroom, trying to make it as warm and inviting as possible. She brought armloads of rugs, tapestries, and music-themed artwork she had scrounged from thrift stores and estate sales the past summer, trying to find things to make the generic space more individualized. One of the classrooms she had gone into today had an 'under-the-sea' theme, so she knew she wouldn't get in trouble for the things she had brought. She had also brought pictures for her own desk, mostly of her family, but also some of her and her friends in college. By the time she had finished, the room had more of a cozy coffee-shop feel than hospital room, which was exactly Beth had hoped. She prayed the kids would like the room as much as she did, and possibly get them interested in the class itself. She had dealt with kids before that blew off music class, but they soon found out that Miss Greene could lay down the law just as much as their other teachers.

She had lost track of time until the school bell shrilly rang, indicating that half-day of school was over. Beth stretched her shoulders and sighed, wondering if she had time to go find the vice-principal and ask about the meeting at the end of the week. She had received conflicting emails throughout the day, and she wasn't about to miss her first actual meeting as a teacher.

She stepped out into the hallway, which she shared with most of the kindergarten classrooms as well as some of the first grade. Kids swarmed about everywhere, reuniting with their parents, some tearfully like they had just returned from war, others reluctantly because they didn't want to go back home. She looked down the hallway and her stomach flopped again. There, leaning up against then wall outside of Mrs. Williams's classroom, was Daryl Dixon.

 _He's just a man, Beth. No need getting doe eyes._ She told herself, starting to walk down the hallway. She watched as Ann-Marie exited her own classroom and launched herself into her father's waiting arms at the sight of him, laughing as he blew into her neck. Beth couldn't help but smile at the sight. Even though he looked rough, it seemed like he was a good dad.

Beth nodded to him as she passed, receiving a chin-tilt in return as he and Ann-Marie started walking out of the building. Beth smiled when Ann-Marie waved excitedly at her, skipping alongside her father as they walked by. Beth knew she shouldn't play favorites, but after only a few minutes, she knew Ann-Marie was already one of hers.

After confirming with Natania that there really was a meeting on Friday and it hadn't been cancelled, Beth walked back to her classroom and grabbed her bag, making her way to her car and climbing in. Though uneventful, Beth thought she could mark her first day as a teacher as a success.

She made her way back home, taking solitude in her room with a cup of tea, the large farmhouse all to herself until Maggie came home from her night classes. Their parents were in Atlanta for the wedding of one of her mother's friends and wouldn't be back until late tomorrow night. Glen, Maggie's husband, was still away working on the NASCAR circuit as a crew chief. He was always gone for several months at a time, so Maggie moved back in with her family while he was away.

Beth curled up on the window seat in her bedroom, opening her sketchbook and looking through some of the clothing designs she was still working on, adding notes in any free space available before focusing on her most recent, a dress she was planning on giving to Maggie for her birthday. Deep down, she still wanted to be a designer, but after the terrible experience she had in college with the other students in the program, she decided to turn to music, her other passion. She wasn't unhappy in the slightest. She was still able to design, on her own terms, instead of being forced to make things she didn't have any interest in, all the while being ridiculed for her 'backwater style'.

As she sketched, she kept getting distracted as her mind drifted towards Daryl Dixon. She had no idea why she was so attracted to him, and why he kept invading her thoughts, even though she had only met him that day. It wasn't like she had never met attractive men before. There were several in college that she had gone on dates with, including her ex-boyfriend, Zach. Most girls would agree with her and say he was one of the most attractive boys at the University of Georgia. So why was she so affected by this one man? Beth shook her head, focusing hard on getting the design for Maggie's dress absolutely perfect. Nothing would come of it. She shouldn't dwell on him.

She wasn't aware of how much time had passed until she heard banging in the kitchen, indicating that Maggie had made it home from her night classes. The sky outside Beth's window had turned to an inky black, moonlight flooding the farm as the crickets sung outside. Beth set her sketchbook aside and stretched, her joints popping from sitting in the same position for so long before she walked down the stairs, the light from the kitchen leading her through the darkness.

"Maggie?" Beth called, coming into the kitchen. Maggie was sitting at the table, going over some notes from her class, an untouched sandwich sitting beside her.

Maggie looked up, setting her pencil down when she saw Beth. "Hey, Beth. You eat already? I could make you something." She asked, starting to stand.

Beth shook her head, sitting down beside her sister at the table. "No, I'm not hungry."

"Pretty sure Mom and Dad will ground me if they find out I didn't feed you." Maggie smirked, sitting back down. "How was your first day as a teacher?"

Beth shrugged. "Nothing to report. I didn't do any teaching."

"Sounds like a good day. Getting paid to do nothing."

Beth hit her on the upper arm and relaxed back in her chair. "I would have rather taught."

"Normal people would be happy to get out of work. Especially most of the teacher friends I have."

"It was my first day. I wanted to at least do a little teaching."

"You're a workaholic." Maggie leaned back in her chair with a sigh. "So? You need me for something?" She questioned, steering them away from talk of Beth's job.

Beth started wringing her hands as she thought of her real reason for bugging her older sister. Even though she had decided not to dwell, she still wanted to know more about Daryl. It was odd to see any single parents in their small town, especially single fathers. The only one she had been aware of before going off to college was Tobin, widowed when his three daughters were still extremely young. But from what she could tell from listening to Lori speak to him, Ann-Marie's mother had either left or was never in the picture. She hated to admit that she was intrigued. She was never one to gossip. Would Maggie think she was nosy for asking?

"Nothing. Just wanted to see what you are up to." She tried to say casually, but failing miserably.

Maggie stared at her intently, looking down at Beth's fidgeting hands then back up at her face. "You sure about that?"

Beth sighed. She should have expected Maggie would see through her. Her family told her she was an open book. "I wanted to ask you a question."

"Okay, shoot."

"What do you know about Daryl Dixon?"

Maggie looked shocked. "Daryl Dixon? Why? He bother you?" She demanded, immediately getting defensive. Beth resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Even though she was an adult now, Maggie was still protective over her.

"No, he didn't. I just wanted to know. I met him and his daughter today."

Maggie smiled at the mention of Ann-Marie. "She's a peach, isn't she? Sweetest little thing."

"Do you know much about them?" Beth asked.

Maggie shook her head. "Honestly, no. They come into the diner sometimes, but besides polite conversation, I don't know much, except the gossip I overhear. I'm not going to justify that garbage by repeating it. Daryl mostly just communicates in grunts. Ann-Marie does the majority of the talking." Maggie picked up her pencil, going back to scribbling something down in her notebook. "If you want to know more, you should ask Daddy."

"Daddy?" Beth repeated.

"Yeah. Daryl comes here and fixes a lot of odds and ends that Daddy and Otis can't. He fixes stuff at the clinic too. He actually worked with Tobin on the expansion a few years ago. Daddy said that the two of them get to talking whenever he comes over." Maggie told her.

"He barely said two full sentences when I met him." Beth frowned. "Are you sure there's not another Daryl Dixon living in town?"

Maggie laughed. "No, they're one in the same. Daddy says he's just wary of everyone, especially now that he has his daughter. He's a great dad, though. You can tell when you see him interact with Ann-Marie. He adores her."

"Does he have anyone else you know about?" Beth wondered if he had someone significant in his life. Not that she cared. Definitely didn't.

"He has a brother, Merle. If you ever see him, stay clear. He's a real piece of work." Maggie warned, frowning at her younger sister.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because Merle's a druggie. Always causes trouble at Axel's bar whenever he rolls into town. He almost got arrested last year because he tried to pick a fight with Tyreese last time he showed up. Daryl showed up after Rick called, mad as hell. Took Merle down like he was nothing and told him not to come back unless he cleaned up his act. Merle hasn't been back since." Maggie explained.

"They sound like polar opposites."

"They are. I'm not saying you can't take care of yourself, but…just stay away from Merle if you ever see him."

"How will I be able to know who he is?"

"He'll stick out like a sore thumb, trust me." Maggie guaranteed before frowning. "Why are you asking?"

Beth immediately felt herself getting hot with embarrassment. "No reason. I just met him today and didn't know who he was. I thought you might know him, working at the diner."

Maggie smirked. "Sure."

"Well, I'm going to go to bed." Beth announced, standing up. She needed to get away from her sister's smug grin. "Good night."

"You know," Maggie started, making Beth stop and turn towards her. "he is single."

"What makes you think I would want to know that?" She demanded, kicking herself internally for the nervousness in her tone.

Maggie continued to smirk. "No reason." She teased, picking up her pencil. "Good night."

Beth rolled her eyes and made her way back up to her room, changing quickly into her pajamas before climbing into bed, sleep overtaking her quickly.

 _His hands were everywhere, running up and down Beth's body, caressing and squeezing as they kissed feverishly on her bed, the morning sun barely filtering through the lace curtains hanging over the window. His body was like a heavy weight on top of her, his hips fitting snugly between her legs as they wrapped around his waist, drawing him closer. They were both still fully clothed, but where they were going was obvious._

 _This wasn't the first time she had dreamt something like this. At some points, her mind betrayed her while she slept, bringing back old memories of her ex-boyfriend Zach to remind her how painfully single she was. She didn't miss Zach at all. She was the one who had broken up with him after he had become obsessively jealous, not even allowing her to hang out with her other male friends. She didn't need that in her life, and she let him know that by breaking it off. But sometimes late at night, her dreams would bring him back to remind her how much she craved physical contact of the romantic variety. It had been far too long since she had been kissed like this._

" _Mmm. That feels good." She whispered as he moved down to kiss her neck, his stubble scratching the sensitive skin there._

 _Wait a second._

 _Zach was never able to grow facial hair. Even when he tried, it never actually grew and wasn't ever rough like this. This couldn't be Zach. Who was this?_

 _The man eventually looked up, and Beth's stomach dropped when she saw who her subconscious had decided to introduce as the star male lead in her steamy dream._

 _Daryl Dixon grinned at her before pressing another kiss to her neck and sitting up. "Best make use of the time we got." He told her, pulling off his shirt and tossing it to the side._

Beth started awake, sitting up in bed and clutching her hand to her chest, panting heavily as her heart raced. The image of shirtless Daryl was still burning at the front of her mind, making the slight ache between her legs more pronounced when she dwelt on it. She groaned and collapsed back onto the bed, looking over at the clock on her nightstand. Four o'clock.

Of all people, why did it have to be Daryl Dixon? Why couldn't it have been the guy who worked the counter at the gas station? At least she would have been able to laugh it off and go back to sleep. But now, she was wide awake, with no chance of going back to sleep any time soon.

 _Tomorrow's going to be a long day._

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 **A big thank you to my friend Lauren for proof-reading this chapter! If you have time, please let me know what you think by leaving a review. I love to hear from you :)**

 **If you want updates on when the story is updated, feel free to follow me on Tumblr. My handle is leotheturtle ****. I apologize in advance for the mish-mash that is my blog.**

 **Thank you for reading! Until next time~**

 **Edit: Huge thank you to arrowsandangels for letting me know the URL to my Tumblr hadn't popped up. It's fixed now.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**First, I want to apologize to you all for the long wait for the third chapter. There were a lot of things that have come up in the past few months, and I've been dealing with a serious case of writer's block with this chapter. But you all deserved an update, and I was able to get it to the point where I wanted to publish it. I hope it lives up to your expectations 3**

 **We're back to Daryl in this chapter. Enjoy!**

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Daryl couldn't help but check his cell phone every five minutes. Before he had Ann-Marie, he didn't even bother carrying a cell phone. If someone needed him, they could wait until they caught him at home or call his landline. He didn't want to be accessible 24/7. But once he had Ann-Marie, Carol had forced him to get a phone because what if he was off on a job somewhere and Ann-Marie got sick and needed to go to the hospital and no one could get a hold of him. It didn't take any more persuasion past that to convince Daryl. If it had to do with Ann-Marie, he didn't mind someone bothering him.

"Waiting on a call, Daryl?" Oscar called from the front yard where he was cutting boards after seeing Daryl check his phone for the umpteenth time.

"Checkin' the time." Daryl responded simply, going back to nailing shingles on the roof of a home the construction team had been building the past few months. Even though their town was small, they had steady work with repairs and renovations not just locally, but also from the surrounding towns, including the occasional house construction, like the one they were currently working on. Daryl didn't know who it was for. Tobin was the one that made friends with the clients. Daryl just got the job done.

"She'll be fine. It's only a half-day." Tobin assured him, hammering another nail into the roof. "And it's the first day. What kind of trouble could she get into?"

"Any tears dropping Ann-Marie off?" Oscar asked.

"You met Ann-Marie?" Daryl responded. "It was like she couldn't get in there fast enough. Practically pulled me out the door this morning."

"It was always like pulling teeth getting the girls to go back to school after the summer. Trust me, the first time at school excitement will wear off. " \Tobin laughed.

Daryl shrugged in response before focusing on his work, only adding the occasional comment as Oscar and Tobin continued the conversation, talking about their respective children. He guessed he should trust Tobin. He had been through this three times before with his daughters, and all of them had turned out okay by Daryl's standards, though he still didn't know shit about being a parent. Most of what he knew he had learned from Carol. The rest he was making up as he went along.

After they had finished the roof and Oscar had finished laying boards for the porch, Tobin announced they were done for the day and that they would finish the rest tomorrow. Daryl quickly packed up his own tools and looked to the tree line behind the house, where Beau was sniffing around. Ever since their neighbors had complained about Beau "terrorizing their chickens", Daryl had started bringing him along everywhere to keep their neighbors from bitching.

"Beau!" Daryl called, holding the passenger side door open until his dog had jumped up into the cab before closing the door behind him. Daryl waved once to Oscar and Tobin before climbing in his truck, keeping a close eye on the time as he drove to the elementary school, rubbing Beau's ears absent-mindedly when he rested his head on Daryl's leg.

Daryl made it to the school with time to spare, but apparently not early enough to beat out the neurotic first-timer parents for a spot near the doors. He parked in the neighboring middle school lot, leaving Beau in the truck with the windows down before heading to the school.

He couldn't help but notice the sideways glances the other parents gave him when he walked down the hallway, like he didn't belong. He kept his head down, studying the toes of his worn work boots as he leaned outside of Karen's classroom, waiting for the school bell to ring so he could get Ann-Marie and get the fuck out of there.

"You look like you've got murder on the mind."

Daryl looked up and saw Kate Shaw standing in front of him with a smirk on her face. Although they were nothing more than casual acquaintances due to their children being friends, he still felt more comfortable around her than other parents because she was also a loner and the only other single parent in town without a partner in sight.

Kate crossed her arms, shifting her weight to one hip as she looked over her shoulder at the classroom door. "Can't blame you. I've already had two 'concerned parents' tell me I should put on a sweater because I looked cold." She rolled her eyes, gesturing to her tank top and shorts, showcasing the tattoos on her arms and the one covering her shoulder. "It's not like I'm the first person they've ever seen with tattoos."

Daryl grunted in response, looking to the door once the bell rang. He wasn't ever looking to just strike up a conversation with anyone, and Kate should have known that by now. Whenever Ann-Marie and Henry had playdates, Kate and Daryl would sit in silence for most of the time until it was time to go.

When the classroom door opened, Henry was the first one to run out, immediately attaching to his mother's leg. "Can we go home now?" He asked, looking up at her.

Kate laughed, taking his hand. "Yeah, pumpkin, let's go home." She looked to Daryl and nodded once before turning and walking down the hallway. Several kids followed out of the classroom to reunite with their parents, leaving Daryl waiting alone for Ann-Marie to finally emerge. He finally saw her standing in front of Karen in the classroom, rocking on the balls of her feet as she talked animatedly about something. He couldn't stop himself from smiling slightly as he watched his daughter, wondering how in hell he could be related to her, let alone be her father.

"Daddy!" Ann-Marie was running towards him, breaking him from his thoughts as he caught her in the nick of time when she launched herself into his arms, laughing wildly as he blew a raspberry into her neck.

"Hey, sugar bean. How was your day?" He asked, setting her down and taking her hand when she reached up as they started walking out of the school.

Ann-Marie launched into a very long and in-depth description of her day, practically bouncing beside Daryl while they walked down the hallway. He switched between looking at his daughter and watching where they were going, his steps almost faltering when he saw Beth Greene walking towards them. It would have been a bold-faced lie if he has said his mind hadn't drifted to the music teacher when it was idle, out of curiosity. Most girls around her age would have taken the first chance they got, including Tobin's eldest daughter, Hannah. Once she had turned eighteen, she had moved to New York and hadn't looked back. Daryl couldn't remember the last time she had visited. A small part of him worried that Beth would be able to tell he had thought about her just by looking at him and confront him about it, but he knew that wasn't possible.

He nodded once in acknowledgement as she passed when she gave him a smile, smiling also at Ann-Marie, who was still telling Daryl about her day. The pull in his stomach came back when she smiled at him, making him wonder what the hell was causing that. He couldn't be attracted to a girl after just meeting her once, especially one at least ten years younger than him. Life wasn't a damn romance novel.

"Miss Beth came into our class today, too." Ann-Marie told him, breaking Daryl from his thoughts as they finally made their way outside. "She asked us what our favorite song was."

"And what did you tell her?" Daryl asked, helping her up into the truck when they reached it.

"Fortunate Son." She grinned.

"That's my girl."

Ann-Marie continued to recount her day to Daryl as they drove to the diner, not stopping even when they parked and walked into the diner, leaving Beau out front with a bowl of water and a bone Daryl kept stashed in the glove compartment.

"Tyreese! Tyreese, I went to school today!" Ann-Marie yelled, running back into the kitchen before Daryl could grab her. Maggie Greene emerged a second later, steering Ann-Marie by her shoulders out of the kitchen.

"What did we say about running back into the kitchen?" Maggie asked her, smiling wryly at Daryl as Ann-Marie looked dejectedly at her shoes from getting caught.

"To not to." She grumbled. "I didn't get hurt."

"Don't matter. You could get hurt. Kitchen's off limits." Daryl told her.

"I can go into the kitchen in our house, why can't I go in that kitchen?" Ann-Marie questioned, looking up at her father.

"Because something could fall on you and you could get hurt. Don't go back there." He ordered, guiding her to sit in one of the booths before taking the bench opposite.

"But—

Daryl raised an eyebrow at her and she quieted down, frowning at the empty water glass sitting in front of her.

"How was your first day of school, Ann-Marie?" Maggie asked, standing at the end of their table with her hands on her hips.

"It was fun. I want to go back." She grinned, bouncing in her seat.

"Yeah." was all Daryl said when Maggie gave him an incredulous look.

"You must be five going on fifty, Ann-Marie. I don't think I've met another kid your age like school." Maggie laughed, shaking her head. "You both want your usual?"

Daryl and Ann-Marie nodded in sync and Maggie disappeared into the kitchen, coming back a few minutes later with their food, a burger for Daryl and chicken fingers for Ann-Marie with two Cokes.

"Here you go, you two. Yell if you need anything." With that, she left, leaving them alone while Ann-Marie began munching on her fries.

"Do I have to eat my vegetables?" She asked, looking at the small bowl of steamed carrots with distaste.

"What's wrong? You like carrots." Daryl pointed out.

"Not when they're alone."

Daryl reached over and grabbed the pepper and salt shaker, putting some of both on the carrots before setting it back in its place. "Try 'em now."

She gave him a wary look but picked up one and took a bite out of it.

"Better?" Daryl asked, and she nodded in response.

Ann-Marie continued the rest of her story about her school day as they finished their lunch, now describing her favorite part of the day with little prompting from Daryl. He didn't know where she got her talkative streak from, but he thought it was beneficial for her. Ann-Marie was growing up learning that she could actually make friends and talk freely without worrying about being punished for it.

After finishing and paying for their lunch, Daryl and Ann-Marie walked outside, where he pretended he didn't see Ann-Marie feed Beau part of a chicken strip to let her feel like she was being sneaky.

"Can we go see Carol?" She asked, already starting to walk down the sidewalk towards Carol's shop.

"Sure, sugar bean." Daryl said, making Ann-Marie take off like a shot down the street with Beau at her heels, already reaching the door of Carol's shop and pushing inside before Daryl could tell her to slow down. Shit, she's fast. By the time Daryl entered, Ann-Marie was bouncing up and down in front of the counter in the back where Carol was standing, telling her the same story of her day that Daryl had gotten when he picked her up.

Carol's store The Hairy Peacock, named by her daughter Sophia, was a gift shop that had become something of a destination since she had taken over from the previous owner five years before. Filled to the brim with novelty gifts and antiques she collected at trade and antique shows around the Southeast, it always looked like an tornado had ripped through and left everything in an organized mess, with things sorted by types on bookcases lining the walls and various old pieces of furniture she had accumulated from garage and estate sales. Nothing in the store was off-limit for sale, save the bookcases and anything behind the counter.

"What, couldn't keep up?" Carol asked, smiling when he weaved through the store to make it to the counter.

Daryl gave her a look before looking down at Ann-Marie. "You can't run off like that, Ann-Marie. You could have gotten hurt."

She looked like she was going to protest for a second, but she nodded and turned back to Carol. "Can I play the piano?"

"Sure, sweetie, go ahead."

Ann-Marie rushed over to the old upright piano Carol kept tucked away in the corner of the store, more for display purposes than actual music-making. The top was cluttered with various knick-knacks, and as Ann-Marie began playing the one simple song Sophia had taught her, both he and Carol winced. It needed a tuning like a fish needed water.

"Are you still thinking about piano lessons?" Carol asked, waving Noah off when he began to walk out of the store.

"Yeah. She hasn't gotten bored with the idea. Might as well have her try it to see if she likes it." Daryl shrugged.

"That's what you said about her playing soccer. She's lasted longer than Sophia."

"She's good at that. I'm just not sure how'll she'll react when she doesn't pick up on piano as quick as she did with soccer."

"Well, if she's anything like her dad," Carol smirked, "She'll be stubborn enough to keep working at it until she does pick it up. It already looks like she's got the knack for it."

"Won't help if she gets bored with it before I can find a teacher."

"You could ask Beth Greene. She was the one that used to give Sophia piano lessons, before she had to go off to college. She used to teach most of the kids in town."

Daryl paused for a moment before nodding. "I'll talk to her tomorrow. See if she's thinking about doing lessons."

"This is pretty." Ann-Marie commented, having finished playing her song and exploring the small clothing section Carol had. They both turned to see her holding a woman's dress off one of the racks, made from a fabric covered with flowers.

"It is, isn't it? Beth Greene made that." Carol said, smiling slightly. "She's good at it. I've had a lot of people that come through buy her stuff."

Damn. At the sound of her name, the pull in Daryl's stomach came back. He tried to push it down as best he could. Sure, even a blind man could tell that Beth Greene was pretty. But he wouldn't give into it. No way she would even look his way, and even if she did, she was Ann-Marie's teacher. Had to be something fucked up with that.

"Maybe you can get it when you're older, sugar bean. That thing'd swallow you whole now." Daryl said, resting a hand on top of Ann-Marie's head when she returned back to the counter. "We'd better get back home. Still got some stuff to do for the house we're working on right now. And you've got to have homework." He added, looking down at his daughter.

"Karen gave us a worksheet where we had to practice our letters. I finished it." Ann-Marie said, smiling up at him.

"Looks like you're the only one that has to do work when you go home." Carol smirked.

"Yeah yeah." Daryl rolled his eyes, taking Ann-Marie's hand as they started walking out the door.

When they got back home, Daryl went to work in his toolshed, keeping a close eye on Ann-Marie as she played in their backyard with Beau, and later with Sophia, when she and Carol returned home. After making dinner for them both, dealing with a scraped knee which led to an argument between father and daughter on whether or not it actually needed a Band-Aid (which ended with daughter readily accepting a penguin band-aid), a bath for Ann-Marie, Daryl was finally able to calm her down enough after reading her two chapters of some book about magic she had picked when he had taken her to the library the week before.

"Alright, sugar bean, time to shut those eyes." He said, closing the book and walking over to put it in the small bookshelf he had constructed for her in the corner of her bedroom.

"But I'm not sleepy." She protested weakly. "Can't we read one more chapter?"

When he turned back to look at her, she was nodding off, struggling to keep her eyes open to try to prove her point. He smiled slightly and walked back over to her bed, tucking her in before turning off the lamp on her nightstand, leaving her night light to cast a weak glow on the room. As soon as the light was turned off, Daryl saw her eyes had already closed, her breathing steady.

That has to be the fastest yet. He thought, bending over to press a kiss to her forehead, looking over his shoulder when he reached the door to look at Ann-Marie curled up in her bed, sleeping soundly. Sometimes, he still felt like he would blink and the life he had built for Ann-Marie would be gone, and he would be back to being some redneck loser following his brother around because he didn't know what he would do otherwise.

He shook his head and closed the door to Ann-Marie's bedroom quietly to keep from waking her. He had a new life, a fresh start. And he would kill himself before he fucked it up.

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 **If you have the time, please leave a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter! I love hearing from you guys :)**

 **If you want updates on when a new chapter is released, feel free to follow me on Tumblr at leotheturtle. I post little mood-board collages for each of the chapters, and would love to know what you guys think of those too!**

 **Thank you for reading! Until next time~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again everyone, and Merry belated Christmas! I hope you all had a great Christmas, or if you celebrate a different holiday that you had a great time then too. I'm finally done with the semester and recovered from my brain fry enough to finally get this chapter done, so I apologize for the wait and want to thank you for sticking with me, even though my updates are sporadic :) Also, thank you so much for your reviews! Keep 'em coming!**

 **I plan on alternating between Beth and Daryl as the POV in the chapters as long as the story allows it, so in this chapter, we're back to Beth. Enjoy!**

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 _This is not a good way to start out my second day of teaching_. Beth thought as she poured herself a large travel mug of coffee, barely awake. She hadn't been able to fall back asleep after her dream, opting instead for working on sketches and pacing the hallway until Maggie yelled at her to cut it out because the creaking floorboards had woken her up. She gulped several mouthfuls of the scalding liquid, wincing at the bitter taste. For some reason, no matter how hard she tried, her coffee always came out terrible, even in those single-serve machines. It was like the coffee gods were against her mastering the art of coffee making.

Beth dumped the rest of the coffee in her mug and in the pot down the drain, deciding instead to stop by Tyreese's for coffee and breakfast before she had to go to work. She grabbed the large thermos from the top of the refrigerator and dragged herself out to her car, driving groggily until she finally parked on the street just outside. The smell of bacon was already emanating from the small diner, perking Beth up slightly before she had even made it through the door. She remembered to grab her thermos before she made her way inside, plopping down on one of the high stools at the counter and grabbing a menu.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Sleepwalker. What are you doing here?" Maggie asked, stopping in front of her sister on the other side of the counter, filling Beth's empty coffee mug with the steaming pot in her hand. Maggie had worked in Tyreese's diner ever since high school, so long that Tyreese joked that whoever was in charge for the day depended on if his wife or Maggie was in. Now that Maggie was taking night classes at the college in Douglas, everyone was getting worried about who would take her place once she finally graduated and had to quit.

"My coffee making skills have yet to improve, so I decided to come by here to get some, along with breakfast." Beth told her, taking the coffee mug in her hands and inhaling deeply before taking a sip.

"Well, if you want that filled all the way, I'll have to make another pot. Give me a second, I'll tell Tyreese know you want your usual." Maggie said, gesturing to the large thermos beside Beth before moving back to the kitchen window to talk to Tyreese.

Beth took the opportunity to look around, people-watching like she normally did whenever she came to the diner alone. Nothing was out of the ordinary. The morning crowd was usually people either just getting off their night shifts or people on their way into work at the distribution center nearby. There were several members of the sheriff's department seated towards the back of the diner, including Shane Walsh, who gave her a smile and a wave when their eyes met before turning back to his friends. Beth only knew him through Lori Grimes, but the few times she had met him, he had been nice enough, if not a bit lewd.

"Here you go, blueberry pancakes with a side of bacon. So, why _were_ you up so early this morning?" Maggie asked, setting a plate of food in front of Beth and crossing her arms.

"I just woke up and couldn't back to sleep." Beth shrugged, digging into her pancakes, conveniently leaving out the part about her dream with Daryl Dixon. Her sister was already onto her attraction, she didn't want to give her any more fodder to blow it out of proportion. "Might be insomnia."

"You don't have insomnia."

"You never know when it could develop."

"You're a terrible liar, and I would grill you more on this, but I have other customers to help. Just yell when you're ready to leave and I'll give you your coffee to go." Maggie leaned across the counter to kiss Beth on the cheek before rushing to help her other customers.

Beth finished her breakfast quickly, laying a twenty-dollar bill on the counter before grabbing the half-full coffee pot Maggie had abandoned on the counter when she went off to take someone's order. She filled the thermos all the way to the top before finally leaving the diner, giving a wave to Tyreese through the window as she pushed out the door.

Somehow, she managed to make it to school without wrecking in her sleep-deprived state. She walked in the building, thankfully not running into any of her colleagues so they wouldn't know how nonfunctional she was in the mornings. Before she got two cups of coffee in her, she could barely string a sentence together.

Beth poured some of the coffee from her thermos into the mug on her desk, ignoring the burn in her mouth as she drank half of it in one gulp. Stretching her fingers, she pulled her sketchbook out of her bag along with some colored pencils and continued working on the design for Maggie's birthday present. She needed to go into Douglas to get fabric, though she didn't know how she could do that without Maggie knowing. She had already picked up a few students for piano lessons in the larger town, but all the fabric and craft stores were closed by the time she got done. The weekends might work, but Maggie might want to go with her, and then the secret wouldn't be kept for long.

The sudden sound of someone clearing their throat at the door of her classroom made her jump what felt like a foot in the air, whipping her head around until her eyes finally landed on Daryl Dixon, standing near the door of the classroom, watching her intently as she laid a hand over her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart.

"Oh, Mr. Dixon." She breathed. "I'm sorry. I guess I was a little too invested." She apologized, gesturing to the sketchbook on her desk before closing it quickly and stowing it in her bag, bending down to try and hide the small blush starting on her cheeks. The images from her dream last night had sprung forth in her mind as soon as she saw him, no matter how hard she tried to suppress them.

"Daryl." He corrected, shoving his hands in his pockets when she looked back up at him.

"Daryl." She repeated, smiling slightly. "Can I help you with something?"

He nodded, taking a step away from the door. "Ann-Marie wants to learn how to play piano, and Carol said you used to teach Sophia, 'fore you went off to school. Was wondering if you were gonna start them back up now you're home."

"I was planning on it. I just didn't know if anyone would be interested. Guess I know now." She said, gesturing to one of spare chairs sitting near her desk. "Would you like to sit?"

He hesitated for a moment before he nodded, moving over and lowering himself into the chair. Beth had to stifle a laugh. Although the chairs in her classroom weren't small, they definitely weren't made for adults, and seeing Daryl try to fit in the small chair with his large stature was comical.

"So, when would you like her to start?" Beth asked once he was finally settled, biting her lip surreptitiously to keep from smiling. Offending a parent on her second official day of teaching wouldn't be a good way to start off the school year.

"Pro'ly as soon as possible. I want to see if she's still interested after her first try." Daryl explained.

"Well, I'm free this Saturday morning. Does 10 work for you?"

Daryl nodded. "How much do I pay you?"

Beth waved him off. "Don't worry about it. If she's just trying to see if she likes it, I'm not going to make you pay."

He frowned, but nodded. He obviously didn't like that. Most people would be happy not having to pay for something. _Another mystery_ , Beth mused to herself.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" She asked after an awkward pause with Daryl just sitting there staring at her.

He shook his head, standing from the chair and nodding to her. "Thanks, Miss Greene."

"Beth." She corrected with a smile, standing when he did. "See you on Saturday." She tried to stifle a yawn with the back of her hand.

"You a'right?" Daryl asked, frowning when Beth rubbed at her eye, hoping that would wake herself up.

"Me? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." She told him. "Just didn't sleep too well last night." She wouldn't meet his eyes. Even though she knew it was ridiculous, she felt if she looked at him, he could tell what was really bothering her. It was something about his eyes. She could tell he was more observant than the average person. Maybe it came from him not talking much, like Maggie said.

"Bad dream?" He guessed, attempting to make conversation.

"I wouldn't say that." She replied, her face growing red as she smoothed the skirt of her dress. "It just woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep."

He nodded, not pressing her on it while he walked towards the door to leave. He gave her one last head-nod before ducking out of the room, finally allowing Beth to breathe and her stomach to unknot. Just being in his proximity made her feel like she was about to explode from embarrassment, even though she knew there was no way he could know what she was thinking. She was a grown woman, there was no reason for her to dwell on some man like some lovesick schoolgirl.

"Saturday can't come fast enough." She muttered to herself, beginning to get ready for her first full-day of teaching, pushing all other thoughts and concerns from her mind. She could worry about them later.

The rest of the school week passed without incident, and without her running into a certain someone and making a complete fool of herself. By the end of the week, it was already clear who in all of her classes were going to be the troublemakers and who were the good seeds. True to her first impression, Ann-Marie fell into the latter, always eager to help and do whatever Beth asked the class to do, even when the other children were unsure or just downright uncooperative, for one reason or another. She had already mentioned to Beth how excited she was for her upcoming piano lesson, and Beth wished she could have whole-heartedly shared that sentiment, but the butterflies constantly fluttering in her stomach whenever she thought about it kept her from doing so.

Come Saturday morning, Beth didn't know why she was still so nervous. She had taught piano lessons before, this one would be no different. She began to wonder if it was because of _who_ was coming, and not the material she was teaching. She shook her head firmly, taking a deep breath.

"Get a hold of yourself, Beth." She muttered, grabbing a stack of songbooks from the coffee table and moving them to the top of the piano.

"Why do you need to get a hold of yourself?" Maggie asked, leaning up against the doorway leading from the kitchen to the living room.

Beth jumped and spun to face her sister, frowning at her eavesdropping. "Don't you have to work?"

Maggie shook her head. "Tyreese gave me the day off since Karen is going to be working today. Gives me plenty of time to bother you about your newfound 'insomnia'." She used air quotes, smirking as she did.

"Well, I have to work, so get lost." Beth said, pushing her through the room towards the stairs. "Go call Glenn or something. I'm sure he would be happy to hear from you."

"Sure he would. I think he'd also like to know about your new little crush." She grinned, stopping on the stairs to look down at Beth.

Beth gaped at her, frowning again once she had composed herself. "I'm not even going to justify that with a response."

"Oh come on, lighten up. It doesn't mean you're going to marry him or anything." Maggie scoffed, dismissing her with a wave of her hand while she disappeared upstairs. "Let me know when you're done so we can go out!"

Beth took a deep breath, calming herself after her sister's ribbing when she heard the sound of tires crunching on gravel. Beth looked down at her watch and cursed under her breath. She hadn't realized how quickly the time that morning had passed, but the clock read five 'till, and her stomach responded by doing its best imitation of an Olympic gymnast.

"You can do this. You can do this." Beth whispered quietly to herself, opening the front door when she heard a solid knock over the faint sound of Ann-Marie's chattering.

"Miss Beth!" Ann-Marie exclaimed when the front door opened, grinning up at Beth and throwing her arms around Beth's legs in a tight hug. "I'm so excited for our lesson." She said, looking up with a wide grin on her face.

"I'm glad. I hope you're as excited at the end of the lesson. I've been told I'm boring sometimes." Beth smiled.

Ann-Marie looked shocked as she stepped back. "But that's so mean."

"I can't blame them. I thought piano was a bit boring before I learned the basics." Beth stepped back, allowing the father and daughter to enter. Her heart skipped a beat as she met Daryl's eyes, followed by a slight frustration at how badly he influenced her. She barely knew him, aside from a few stray conversations and one awkward dream.

"Ann-Marie, why don't you go and sit at the piano? I have the workbook open to a page I want you to read before we start." Beth turned to Daryl as Ann-Marie scampered to the piano. "You can sit in here, if you want." She gestured to the couches in the room, as well as the ones in the formal living room. "We certainly don't have a seating shortage."

The sides of Daryl's mouth quirked up in the suggestion of a smile. "Nah, I don't want to hover. I'll sit out on the porch 'till you're done."

The back door slammed shut at that moment, causing Daryl and Beth to look for the source of the noise. Hershel appeared in the doorway, looking relieved when he saw Daryl in the living room.

"Daryl, good. You're here. I was just about to call you." He smiled, walking towards them. "The tractor won't start up again, I was hoping you could help."

"Did you break it on purpose?" Ann-Marie piped up, looking at Herschel curiously, who gave Daryl a confused look.

Daryl looked down at his boots. "She asked if we were here to fix the tractor again. I told her if it was broke, you were doing it on purpose."

Herschel laughed, clapping Daryl on the shoulder. "I assure you, I'm not doing it on purpose. Come on, let's see what's wrong this time."

"Sure thing, Mr. Greene."

"I don't know how many times I've told you, call me Herschel." The two men walked out the back door, with Daryl giving one look over his shoulder at Beth as they left. She took a deep breath to compose herself before walking over to the piano, sitting down on the bench beside Ann-Marie to begin the lesson.

Contrary to how most of the first lessons Beth had given in the past, Ann-Marie's was surprisingly easy. Ann-Marie already knew how to play one song and picked up on the basics more quickly than anyone else Beth had taught, so much so that Beth took five minutes at the end of the lesson to let Ann-Marie try to read music and play at the same time, which, barring a few mistakes and a restart, went well. She still had a long ways to go, but Beth could tell that with practice Ann-Marie would be good. Really good.

"You did great, Ann-Marie." Beth praised as she began cleaning up their songbooks. "You'll probably be even better than me someday."

"Would you play something, Miss Beth?" Ann-Marie asked, looking up at her with wide eyes, the color an exact copy of her father's. Beth wondered if Daryl was ever able to say no to his daughter, using doe-eyes like that, though Beth guessed she didn't do it manipulatively.

"Maybe later. We should go find your Dad." Beth answered.

"Please? Just one?"

Beth looked at Ann-Marie and caved, sitting down beside her on the bench again. "All right, just one though. I don't want to keep you two here for too long."

Ann-Marie grinned and plopped down beside her, waiting for Beth to start.

It didn't take long for Beth to decide what she wanted to play, her fingers already starting to glide across the keys, the rest of the world fading away as she lost herself in the music. To her, this was true serenity, and it only occurred when she was playing music or designing. A war could be going on around her, but she wouldn't know.

When she finished the piece, she was brought back to reality by someone clapping, looking to see her father standing in the doorway nearest the piano, a large grin on his face.

" _Claire de lune_. I haven't heard you play that one in a long time, Bethy." He commented.

"Can you teach me to play that?" Ann-Marie asked, grabbing Beth's arm to get her attention.

Beth laughed, standing from the piano. "Maybe when you get a some more practice. It can be a little tricky."

"I want to play as pretty as you." Ann-Marie declared, hopping off the bench and running to her father, who Beth had just noticed was standing behind Herschel like a shadow, watching her with an intensity that made Beth blush lightly. "Wasn't that pretty, Daddy?" Ann-Marie asked, looking up at her father.

"Yeah, it was." Daryl's eyes lingered on Beth's before he looked down at his daughter. "We should probably head out. What do you say to Beth?"

"Thank you!" Ann-Marie smiled as Daryl started to pull his wallet from his pocket.

"Don't." Beth said, holding up her hand to stop him. "First lesson's free, remember?"

Daryl's eyes narrowed, but he nodded and put away his wallet before grabbing Ann-Marie's hand. "Come on, sugar bean. Let's go." He looked to Beth again. "Same time next week?"

"See you then."

She saw them to the door, waving as they pulled away. As Daryl's truck disappeared down the drive, she could feel the knot in her stomach loosening as the dust settled. There was no reason to be nervous around him, but one look, and he could have her stomach doing somersaults. It wasn't that he looked intimidating, although he did at times, but that wasn't the cause. Beth knew the reason, although she wanted to admit it, was he was handsome, and every time she caught him looking at her, his gaze said he was thinking the same about her, not including the strange, and sudden, attraction she felt the moment she laid eyes on him.

Beth shook her head, walking back into the house to see her father on the couch, smirking at her. The look on his face was the exact same that Maggie had given her not an hour before while teasing her about Daryl. Beth groaned inwardly. She loved her family, but there were times she swore their only goal in life was to find her a boyfriend. She wasn't interested, especially not now, with her new job and failed attempts at finding a place of her own. She didn't have the time. Maybe, once things started to settle down and she found her niche, but definitely not now.

"What?" She demanded, placing her hands on her hips as she faced Herschel, hoping the imitation of her mother was enough to get him to drop his smugness.

"Oh, nothing." He mused, smiling at Beth. "Just interesting."

Beth sighed, going up the stairs feeling like she needed a stiff drink. "You know, you're as bad as Maggie."

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 **Thank you for reading! Until next time~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again everyone! I hope you all are having a great 2018 so far. I honestly can't believe it's almost March. Thank you all so much for your reviews. I read every single one of them. Keep 'em coming!**

 **We're back to Daryl in this chapter, which clocked out at just under 5,000 words. There was a lot of stuff I wanted to fit in to set up for later chapters, so I hope you all like it! Just FYI, there's been a bit of a time jump, so we're now in late September. Enjoy!**

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As the school year finally got into full swing, Daryl and Ann-Marie fell into a routine, and Daryl would be lying if he said he didn't look forward to the end of the week, not for his time off, but for his chance to see Beth Greene. He almost never sat inside the house during the lessons, preferring to sit out on the large porch and finish his share of the construction company's paperwork or read, when he wasn't pulled away by Herschel to fix something. He hated being cooped up inside anywhere, which he used as an excuse every time he turned down Beth's offer to sit inside, which allowed him to avoid accepting the reality that whenever he was in the same room as her, he couldn't seem to think straight. His eyes always wandered to wherever she was when he was sure she wasn't looking. He got caught a few times, but played it off like he was just looking at something in the room. But more than once, he swore he saw Beth Greene looking his way too, before turning away with that pink blush on her cheeks.

"Ann-Marie, you may just be the next Mozart. You've been practicing." Daryl looked to his left as Beth and Ann-Marie stepped out onto the front porch, walking towards him. He stood, shoving his book in his back pocket to get ready to leave.

"I go to Carol's almost every day. She has a piano at her house and she lets me play it whenever I want." Ann-Marie told her, practically beaming under Beth's praise.

"When they're awake." Daryl reminded her. The Dixons were early risers, and he didn't want Ann-Marie getting charged with breaking-and-entering at the tender age of five because Carol and Sophia didn't wake up 'till 9 on Sundays.

Ann-Marie nodded, getting distracted when Beau, who was sniffing around the Greene's front yard, ran up the front porch steps to circle around Ann-Marie before running back to the grass with her following, chasing each other around in their version of tag.

"She's really doing great. I might have to go buy a new practice book to keep up with her." Beth told him, crossing his arms as they watched Ann-Marie and Beau play in the front yard. "She's farther ahead at this point than a lot of my other students."

"She does go to Carol's every day to practice. If she sticks with this, I might get her her own piano to practice on, so she's not bugging the Peletiers." He told Beth. "I've even seen her practicing without a piano."

Beth turned her head to look at him, frowning. "Without a piano?"

"She got a big piece of paper from the art room at school. I didn't know what she was doing with it until she came home from Carol's one day with a drawing of the keyboard. She sits at the table and practices on it."

Beth stared at him, almost as if she didn't believe him, before she started laughing, light and almost bubbly, smiling up at him. "Seriously?"

Daryl nodded. "I don't know where she got the idea. But it keeps her from going outside and getting in trouble."

"I find it hard to believe that Ann-Marie gets into trouble."

Daryl looked out of the corner of his eye, raising an eyebrow at Beth. "Wanna bet?"

Beth shook her head, a smile still ghosting her lips. "She must get it from her daddy." She teased, elbowing Daryl in the ribs.

Daryl smiled slightly down at her, feeling warm when he saw Beth was still looking up at him with that smile. That pull in his stomach came back, making him clear his throat as he looked away, pushing whatever feelings he had to the side as he looked for Ann-Marie, who had disappeared from the front yard. He gave Beth his best go at an 'I-told-you-so' look as he walked down the steps of the house, looking around to see if she had gone off into the field in front of the house.

"She must have gone around back." Beth said at his elbow, startling him slightly, though he didn't show it. She was already turning the corner of the house when he looked her direction. It only took him a few long strides to catch up with her, falling into step as they went to look for Ann-Marie.

"If you want, she can stay after school a little bit on some days to practice on the piano in the music room." Beth said. "I'm usually there late anyway working on my plans."

Daryl shook his head. "I won't have you babysitting her. She'll be fine."

"It's not babysitting. And either way, I'd be happy to do it, if she's this excited about it." Beth responded.

Daryl got the feeling it wasn't worth it to argue with Beth, so he nodded silently. She wouldn't budge, no matter what he said. _Exactly like her old man_.

They looked across the yard and saw Ann-Marie at Annette's side, listening intently as Annette showed her the vegetable garden the Greene's had near the back porch. The little girl didn't even notice when they walked up behind them, laying on her stomach as she investigated something Annette was pointing out to her.

"They're so wiggly." She said, touching a pink worm gently. "And slimy."

"They're my little helpers. They make the soil nice and healthy for the plants." Annette explained, looking over her shoulder and smiling warmly at Daryl. "Beth hates them, though."

"I don't _hate_ them." Beth said, immediately coming to her own defense. "I just hate it when y'all stick them in face."

"You should have heard her when Shaun and Maggie would chase her around with them. Your scream could wake the dead." Annette teased as Ann-Marie stood, walking over to Daryl and taking his hand, tugging him closer to the garden.

"Daddy, look! There are ladybugs on the plants! Miss Annette says they eat the little bugs that hurt the plants." She coaxed one onto her finger before holding it in Daryl's face for him to see. "Can we have a garden?"

"Maybe next year. The plants won't last long with the cold weather coming." Daryl explained. A garden _would_ be a good idea. It would save them money on groceries if they grew their own fruits and vegetables, especially since Ann-Marie went through strawberries like they were her only food source.

Ann-Marie looked up at him with wide eyes. "You mean they're going to die?"

 _Shit_. "They might not." He answered, wanting to get off the topic as quickly as possible so it didn't turn into the fiasco that happened when he explained roadkill to her last year. For some reason, hunting didn't bother her, but just the thought of anything else dying set her to tears faster than anything.

"Will the ladybugs die?" Ann-Marie pressed.

"Ladybugs hide for the winter." Beth swooped in before Daryl could come up with a way to distract his daughter. "They all huddle together and find a warm place to sleep until spring comes back around."

Ann-Marie didn't look convinced, but she accepted Beth's answer with a nod. Daryl breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Beth with a silent _thanks_. Beth smiled warmly at him in response, their silent exchange broken when Annette cleared her throat, smiling at them both.

"Speaking of vegetables, I have a mess of them that Herschel and I will never be able to get through once Beth and Maggie move out. How about you take some home with you?" Before Daryl could say no, Annette already had a grip on his arm, surprisingly strong for such a small woman, leading him up the stairs and into the house, putting jar after jar of canned vegetables and fruits into a bag before handing it to him with a smile. _Shit, what am I supposed to do with all this._ Beth leaned against the counter across from him behind her mother's back, watching with a wry smile, holding Ann-Marie's hand as she twirled around so she wouldn't fall down.

"Consider it payment for how many times you've helped Herschel and Otis around the farm." She said when he was about to protest again.

"Thanks." He said, realizing there was no way he was going to convince her that they didn't need everything she had given them.

"Is there a coming apocalypse I don't know about?" Beth asked. "We may want to keep all that for ourselves."

"You hush." Annette ordered. "It was either give it to someone we knew or have Paula Marmillion criticize them as the church picnic."

"Mom, she just gave you her pickle recipe. I doubt she was being malicious."

"She gave it to me _while_ she was eating one of my pickles. I have a perfectly good recipe, thank you very much." She turned back to Daryl, giving him another smile. "I won't keep you two here any longer. Don't be strangers, okay?"

"I'll walk you out." Beth said, walking out of the kitchen with his daughter. Daryl gave a final head-nod to Annette before following them with the heavy bag.

"Everyone in your family so pushy?" He asked once they were at his truck, half-joking. It seemed like every Greene he had met never took no for an answer, especially when it came to offering anything they had that someone else might want or need. He wondered what it must have been like to grow up in a family as selfless as that. Daryl couldn't relate.

"It's a Greene family trait." Beth smiled as they idled in front of Daryl's truck, putting her hands in her back pockets. "I'm sorry about them. I'm sure you'd rather relax while Ann-Marie is practicing instead of having to work."

"It's fine. I like doing it." He told her. "Better working than being idle."

"Very true." She agreed.

Daryl looked over his shoulder to look at Ann-Marie, who had already gotten in the truck with Beau and was waiting patiently. "Your ma said you were moving out?"

A grin spread across Beth's face. "Yeah, I closed on a house a few weeks ago. All I'm waiting for now is to hear back from the bank. If all goes well, we'll be at my own house for the lesson in a week or two."

"Congrats." He said, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and counting out some money before holding it out to her. "You'll probably need this then.

"Daryl, you don't need to—

He shook his head in response, cutting her off. "Don't. I owe you for the lessons."

Her lips pressed into a hard line but she took the bills, counting them quickly. "Daryl, this is too much." She took a few bills, trying to hand it back to him, but he was already moving to the driver's door.

"Can't take it back now. Sorry." He climbed into the cab, smiling slightly at the frustration plain on Beth's face as she started towards his truck. He turned the ignition and left before Beth could make it to the passenger's door, waving once as she stood in the rearview, her hands on her hips. He snorted at the sight. He knew she had to be thinking of some way to get the money back to him, but he wouldn't allow it. For someone who worked so hard, she didn't expect any compensation for it. She must really love what she did.

Another week passed quickly, with another lesson passing by the following Saturday just as awkwardly, with Daryl sitting in the parlor where Beth and Ann-Marie were practicing at his daughter's insistence because she wanted him to listen to what her and Miss Beth had been doing. So, unable to deny Ann-Marie of anything, there he sat with Beau laying on his feet, watching the two of them while they worked. This time, Daryl knew he wasn't imagining that Beth Greene stole several glances at him of her own, always turning away quickly when she saw he was looking right back at her. _She got that makeup shit on her cheeks, or is she blushing that bad_?

The lesson was over as quickly as it started, and Ann-Marie was pulling him from his seat and out the door once she had said goodbye to Beth, too excited about her sleepover that night with Sophia and some girl named Mika that Sophia knew from Girl Scouts to let Daryl have any time talking to Beth. Not that he was looking for it. He seemed to forget how to form complete sentences whenever he talked to her.

After dropping his daughter off at the Peletiers, he decided instead of hanging around the house doing nothing, he would go into Douglas to run errands, including buying some presents for Ann-Marie's upcoming birthday, ending up at the bookstore to pick up one of the gifts. It was the last place he thought he would be, but he also didn't expect to ever have a child, a steady job, or even a solid group of friends he could rely on the rare occasions he asked for help. It wasn't the life he had expected, but he would never complain or trade it for anything.

Keeping his eyes on the list of ideas for Ann-Marie's birthday, he began to walk down the aisles to find the book Ann-Marie was reading now. He knew it was a series, so maybe—

His thoughts abruptly stopped when he ran into something, immediately stopping and taking a step back to see that it wasn't a something, but a someone he had run into, and that someone, with papers and a few books strewn around her, was Beth Greene

"Daryl, hi!" Beth said, her look of surprise turning into a smile when she focused on him, even though he was the one that had just knocked her on her ass. She rubbed her head where she had hit it on Daryl's chest and started picking up her items. "I'm sorry, I should have been watching where I was going."

"Here, let me." Daryl said, crouching down beside her to help pick up the fallen papers strewn across the floor. He couldn't help but notice that a lot of the papers he picked up were either print-outs for dress designs, but the biggest book in her arms was about home inspection and maintenance. "Guess I make a better door than a window."

Beth laughed breathlessly, straightening when everything was gathered and safely back in her arms. "More like a brick wall." She smiled. "Thank you."

Daryl nodded, standing in front of her as an silence fell between them. She wasn't wearing the usual dress or skirt he saw her in most days. Instead, she was wearing a pair of cutoff overalls over a white shirt with her hair in braids, and Daryl thought this was the prettiest he had ever seen her.

 _What the hell._

"I had an order come in for a vintage dress that looked like somebody in _Mad Men_ would wear." She told him, looking down at some of the printed-out flyers and breaking Daryl from his thoughts. "I've never made one before, but I think I'm distracting myself from the house-buying process. I was looking at the inspector's report again and I'm just not sure if it's all true or not. "

Daryl shifted from foot to foot, shoving his hands in his pockets. "If you wan', I could help." He heard himself saying.

"Really?" She asked, looking up at him, hopefulness plain on her face.

 _Shit, stop lookin' at me like that_. "Might help if you got someone who actually builds houses to look at it." _Can't take it back now._

"I would hate to put you out." She told him.

"Don't worry about it. I helped Rick find the house he's in now."

"Oh, you're the best." She gushed, making Daryl's heart swell at her words. She bounced lightly on her toes, making her excitement evident. "My dad offered to help, but I wanted to do it on my own and got in way over my head. I couldn't ask him though. Pride runs in the Greene family."

Daryl didn't know how to respond, so he nodded and dug for his wallet in his back pocket to give her the card for the construction company, but stopped when he saw she was already holding out a card to him. He noticed it was same as the cards Carol had set up by Beth's clothes in her shop, with Beth's email, phone number, and a PO box address.

"I'm getting the keys today." Beth told him, smiling. "I was actually headed there later, after giving myself a crash course in home inspection." She held up the book in her arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Birthday present for Ann-Marie. It's some book series about magic or something, but I can't find it."

"You mean _Harry Potter_? Those are some of my favorites." Beth grinned, shifting her load to one arm and grabbing his forearm with her free hand. "Come on, I'll show you where they are."

Daryl resisted the urge to pull his arm from her grasp. He didn't like being touched, but the feeling of Beth Greene's small hand on his arm didn't bother him as much as others did.

"Here they are." Beth said, stopping in front of one of the bookshelves and dropping his arm. Daryl couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed, but he tried to focus on what she was saying instead of on the feelings he had suppressed, now brought forth simply by her touch. "Is there a certain one you were looking for?"

He shook his head, bending over to pick up a set of all of them. "She's going through them like hotcakes. I can't get her nose out of them for more than five minutes when we're home."

Beth laughed lightly. "Then I'm sure she'll love it. When is her birthday?"

"October 19th."

"I bet she's excited." Before he could respond, her phone pinged, interrupting their conversation when she looked at it. "Shoot, that's the real estate agent." Her eyes scanned the text message quickly before she frowned deeply. "Perfect time to not have a car." She muttered.

"What's wrong?" He asked. She seemed less than thrilled for someone that was supposed to be getting the keys to their house.

She sighed, putting her phone back in her pocket. "The real estate agent is only available right now for me to get the keys, and I drove into town with Maggie because she had a meeting with one of her professors, but she has the car and won't be done until six." She explained. "Which means I have to wait until Monday now."

Daryl didn't know what possessed him, maybe it was how disappointed Beth looked, and how he thought that sunny Beth Greene didn't deserve to look like that. "I can drive you."

Beth's head shot up. "Are you sure? I'd hate to put you out. Especially if—

"I'm free." Daryl interrupted. "Ann-Marie's having a sleepover with Sophia. And this is only errand." _Lie. But she looks happy_.

Beth grinned, causing an unfamiliar warm feeling to spread through Daryl's chest. "Let's go." She declared, stopping short. "Might want to pay for the book first, though."

"I wouldn't want to turn you in to Rick."

"I don't think felon would look good on a resume." She grinned.

They paid for their purchases and walked to the parking lot, Beth telling Daryl all about the house, how it was within walking distance of the school and had two extra rooms for her to set up a practice room and still have a guest bedroom, so she wouldn't have to set up the piano in the living room and take up more space. Daryl asked few questions, just to keep her talking, so he wouldn't have to contribute. He had never been much of a talker, and still wasn't. Some people before had told him it was unnerving how silent he was, but Beth Greene didn't seem to mind, filling up the half-hour car ride until they found themselves outside of the house Beth had mentioned. From his first impression, it looked fine, structurally speaking, if not a bit worn-out. It was a single-story, light green with white trim and a large porch. To Daryl, it looked exactly like the kind of place Beth would live. Beth was out of the cab before he even stopped, running up the walk to meet the real estate agent on the porch. _Shit, it's Jenny Jones._

"Daryl? What are you doing here?" She demanded, watching him as he walked up to the front porch to meet Beth and Daryl

"I asked him to help me look at the house, to see if there's anything I need to fix." Beth cut in, saving Daryl from trying to come up with an answer. _What the hell AM I doing here?_

Jenny frowned in confusion but turned back to Beth, handing a keyring with a few keys on it. "Well, here are the keys to your new home, Miss Greene. Congratulations." Jenny smiled. "If you need anything else, just let me know." She walked down the porch steps, calling over her shoulder, "I'll tell Morgan you said hi, Daryl." With that, she climbed in her car and drove off. Daryl knew Jenny wasn't one to blow things out of proportion, but she would probably tell Morgan, and then he wouldn't hear the end of it from Rick, who already suspected Daryl's attraction to Beth Greene. _God, I'm never gonna hear the end of this at poker night._

"You know Jenny?" Beth asked once Jenny was gone, looking up at him.

Daryl nodded, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Her husband is a friend of mine."

"They're a great family." Beth smiled. "Jenny's been a big help." She looked at the keys in her hands and let out an unexpected shriek, making Daryl jump slightly at the noise. What was even more unexpected was the way Beth threw her arms around Daryl's neck. Before he could register what was happening, she had already pulled back, bouncing on her toes.

"I have a house!" She squealed, not waiting for a response from Daryl before she opened the front door.

Daryl found that much like his own daughter, Beth didn't need much prompting to continue the conversation, telling him what she liked about the house, and already what she planned on changing. He was content with listening, speaking only when she asked him a direct question while he looked around the house, checking for any problems that could cause Beth trouble in the future. Luckily, he found none. He could tell how excited Beth was about the house, and he didn't want to disappoint her by telling her there was something wrong and ruin her mood.

"I'm thinking this room." The sound of Beth's voice broke Daryl from his thoughts, pulling his head from the closet where the furnace was located to look at her. She was standing in front of a doorway into one of the bedrooms, her chin on her hand in a pensive pose. Before he could ask her what the hell she was talking about, she had already disappeared into the room.

Daryl walked to the doorway, leaning against the jam as she walked slowly around the room. He could see the wheels in her mind turning behind her eyes, already figuring out where everything would go. From what he saw of what she did to her classroom, she wasn't a stranger to decorating and had a knack for it. Not that Daryl would know anything. He had to get Carol to help him and Ann-Marie pick out girly stuff for her room once she was old enough to choose what she wanted.

"I can put a piano here, once I get one." Beth started, gesturing to the short wall to the right of the door. "I saw a used one at the Goodwill in Douglas a few weeks ago. And I can put the bookshelf right next to it, there should be enough room." She moved closer to the window, spreading her hands wide, but honestly, Daryl couldn't hear anything else she was saying. He followed her with his eyes as she practically danced around the room, her voice excited. She was like a kid at Christmas, with her thousand-watt smile, definitely from the thought of buying her own place. He knew he had felt the same way when he finally saved up enough money to move out of his dad's shithole when he was seventeen.

Daryl began to relax the more Beth talked, following along with her as she told him all of her ideas, that warm feeling in his chest and stomach that only seemed to appear whenever he was near Beth Greene. Maybe it wouldn't kill him to ask her out on a date. He could drive them into Savannah, where they wouldn't be the town's hot gossip for the next year if anyone saw them. He'd only been to Savannah twice, but he was sure she had gone before. She would probably know a place they could go. Then, if it went well, maybe she wouldn't mind if he asked her on another.

 _What the hell am I thinking. Why would she want to go out with a Dixon? And she's Ann-Marie's music teacher, that's on another level of weird._ It was better to keep his pubic and personal life separate. If he did go out with Beth and it ended badly, he didn't want Ann-Marie being affected by it. He knew how much she looked up to Beth. He didn't want to be a shit dad and ruin that for her.

Beth turned to him, breaking him from his thoughts as she smiled at him. "Well? What do you think?"

He shrugged, trying to pretend that he had heard every word of what she was saying. "It'd be your house. Your choice."

"You're a contractor though. I'm sure you've seen some train wreck decorating on jobs. I would hate to make that list." She smirked.

"As long as your house ain't covered in mold, you're fine." He told her.

"Speaking of which, did you find anything? The previous owners had an inspector come out, but I wanted someone I trusted to look it over." She asked, looking at him expectantly.

Daryl shook his head. "There are some creaks, but I'm guessin' the house is old, so that's alright. The furnace and water heater are new. Besides the door to the bathroom that's missin', you're good to go."

Beth beamed up at him and wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing tightly. She was soft and smelled like oranges and something floral that he noticed when some of her hair tickled his nose. With her body pressed against him, his immediately responded, the back of his neck growing hot as his stomach clenched just like it had done the first time he had met her, only now it was ten times as intense at her proximity. Wanting to end the hug before he got so hot he caught on fire, he patted her back once before Beth pulled back, smiling, with a little pink on her cheeks.

"Sorry. I'm just so excited. I can't believe I have a place of my own." She told him.

He nodded, swallowing thickly to try to regain his use of English as they walked out of the house, back towards his truck.

"Gosh, I'm starving." Beth said, bouncing down the steps before spinning on the ball of her foot to face Daryl. "Do you want to go to the diner with me? Unless you have other plans."

Daryl stopped, trying to process what she just said. _Diner. Food. With Beth. Why is she asking me?_

"Don't you have plans? With your family?" He asked, stalling her long enough to decide if this was a bad idea or not.

Beth shook her head. "My parents went to a movie in Douglas, and Maggie was going to pack tonight for a trip to Savannah with her friends. I'm all by myself."

Daryl looked at her, wondering if he should or not. It was just dinner, and it wasn't like he had any other plans tonight. With the amount of people that would be in the diner, he doubt anyone would really notice the two of them.

But she was still Ann-Marie's teacher. He had to put his daughter first, no matter how attracted to Beth he was. Or how her hair shone whenever the light caught it, or how blue her eyes were, and how she always seemed to look at him like he was worth something, like he had something interesting to say, even though he knew he was just a redneck asshole that didn't do anything that was even as close to being as interesting as what she has done.

"I can't. I gotta…" Daryl gestured over his shoulder with his thumb, pointing to his truck. His speech failing him again, he turned without another word and all but ran back to the truck, climbing in and gunning it down the street, leaving Beth standing alone on the curb.

 _Asshole_.

* * *

 **More Daryl and Beth interaction, but they've definitely still have a ways to go before our favorite couple finally becomes a couple :)**

 **If you have the time, please leave a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter! I love heaving from you guys.**

 **Thank you for reading! Until next time~**

 **SIDE NOTE: I've gone off of social media, so I no longer post on my Tumblr blog leotheturtle. If you still would like to see the mood-board collage I have for this chapter, send me a message and I can post it on another site like Imgur. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again everyone! Sorry for the long time between updates. School/work got a little hectic, and I hit a major case of writer's block. But luckily (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere), it's spring! So we get a nice bit of weather before we all start melting à la Wicked Witch of the West when summer hits (if you're from where I'm from, at least). Thank you all so much for your reviews. I still am floored by the response this story has gotten. I read every single one of your reviews, and just know how much they mean to me. Keep 'em coming!**

 **Now, let's get back to Beth, and where we left her last time…**

* * *

Beth had stood on the curb for what felt like an eternity, staring at the spot where Daryl's truck had just been. _What just happened? I asked him to dinner. Then, he was gone. Am I really that repulsive_? Then, she was faced with the reality that even though she could walk into town, she definitely couldn't walk all the way back to the farm, unless she wanted to get home well after dark and have her parents calling the sheriff's department to report her missing. All her normal options for rides were otherwise occupied, and the ride she _thought_ she had had disappeared in a squeal of tires moments before.

She was never going to hear the end of this.

First it was Rosita, whom Beth called to ask for a ride back to the farm. She had to pull over halfway there because she was laughing so hard when Beth told her how Daryl had bolted when she had just asked him if he wanted to go grab dinner, since they were both free. Beth failed to find humor in the situation. _It wasn't like I was asking him to marry me. A burger wouldn't have killed him. And I was asking as a friend. Mostly._ Maybe she had imagined whatever attraction she thought Daryl had towards her.

Rosita had then promptly called Tara, making Beth relay everything again over speakerphone when they finally made it back to the farm, which started another round of laughter from Tara and Rosita. Beth took Rosita's phone and tossed it at an armchair across her bedroom when she was about to call her long-distance boyfriend, Abe. It was already humiliating enough, she didn't need half of Texas knowing with Abe's big mouth.

She refused to tell her parents when they returned to the farm later that night and asked her how her night was. Her parents were not beat-around-the-bush people, and if she told them, she knew it would come up, either directly or passively, the next time they saw Daryl. She didn't want to risk having him think she was gossiping about him.

Beth was sitting in her room at the farm on Friday night, fielding texts from both Tara and Rosita, still demanding more information on her 'romance' with Daryl. She eventually turned it on silent and put it on the top drawer of her dresser, focusing on finishing the sketch for Maggie's birthday dress. She hand't seen Daryl since Saturday, and she couldn't help but feel like he was avoiding her. It wasn't out of the ordinary to see him outside of the school, or out around town running errands, but the past week it was as if he had just disappeared. She refused to read into the situation. Daryl had shown a clear disinterest, and that was fine. They could still be friends. Maybe. Something tightened around her heart at the thought.

The door to her bedroom flung open, making Beth start as she looked and saw Maggie standing at the doorway, a huge grin on her face.

"I _knew_ it." She said, jumping on Beth's bed. "I knew you liked him. Tell me everything. What did you two talk about? Did he drive you back here? What did you two do with the house all to yourselves?" Her eyebrows wagged before her gaze dropped to the sketchbook in Beth's lap. "Ooo, is that for me?"

Beth slapped Maggie's hand away when she started reaching for it. "Yes, it is, but you can't see it until I finish. It's for your birthday."

"You're no fun." She frowned. "Well? I need details. What did you two do?"

Beth frowned, closing her sketchbook with a _snap_. "Nothing."

"What do you mean, nothing? He drove you back. You two had to have done something after you got the keys."

"I asked him if he wanted to go to the diner for food and he practically ran away from me."

Maggie paused, staring at Beth. "Wait, he just left you?"

"Yes."

"No explanation."

"Nope."

"Right after you asked him on a date."

"It wasn't a date. I was just asking him if he wanted to go get dinner. Between friends. Not a date."

"Oh, it was definitely a date. And you scared him off." Maggie began cackling, for lack of a better word, clutching her stomach as she fell over on the bed. "You _scared_ him! Tiny Beth Greene, who wouldn't hurt a fly, scared big burly Daryl Dixon just because she asked him on a date!"

"Stop it!" Beth grabbed a pillow and hit Maggie over the head with it, her face burning from embarrassment. Beth wasn't a stranger to rejection, but this time felt different. She had gone on a limb, reading signs she thought were there, almost sure that he would say yes and they would have a nice night, with Beth maybe getting him to talk a little bit more about himself, instead of filling the silence with talk about her decorating ideas, which she knew had to have bored him after a while. She had been wrong, and for some reason, that felt worse than a run-of-the-mill 'no'.

"I have to tell Glenn." Maggie grinned, getting up off the bed and dancing out of Beth's pillow-swinging range. "He's going to love this."

"Why would you tell Glenn?" Beth frowned. "I doubt he would care."

"One, we're married, so it's kind of in the contract that he be interested in what I have to say. Two, he knows Daryl, and he'll get a kick out of this."

"How does everyone in this family know Daryl and I don't?" Beth demanded, failing to notice that Maggie already had the phone up to her ear. "Maggie, no!" The sisters chased each other around the house, Maggie recounting everything to Glenn while she fended Beth off, a blush burning her cheeks as she tried to snatch the phone from Maggie, finally succeeding when she hit Maggie with a pillow from the couch.

"Glenn, _please_ tell me you don't think it's funny. Be on my side." Beth pleaded, ignoring Maggie while she disappeared into the kitchen, still laughing.

" _It is kind of funny_." Glenn said, a smile evident in his voice.

"Goodbye, Glenn."

" _Wait_!" Beth stopped, holding the phone back up to her ear. " _It's not funny because of what happened to you. It was kind of a dick move. But it's funny considering that sounds like something Daryl would do if he didn't know what to do_."

"Maggie said you knew him."

" _I have met him a few times. You should see him in bars. He ignores any woman that tries to talk to him. I think he just doesn't know how to talk to them_."

"I've seen him talk to Lori and Carol just fine."

" _That's different. I can talk to my sisters easily, but when I first met Maggie I couldn't string a sentence together. If what Maggie tells me is true, don't tell me you can think straight when you're around him_." When Beth didn't respond, he continued. " _I'm taking your silence as a yes_."

"It's definitely a yes, she's still in denial though." Maggie plucked the phone from Beth's hand. "I have to think of a game plan with Beth." She said goodbye and hung up before turning to face her sister. "Now, I know you're usually the one being pursued instead of the pursuer, but I'll give you all my pointers."

"Maggie, I'm not chasing after Daryl. I'm his daughter's teacher. It's all levels of wrong." Beth told her, walking up the stairs to her room with Maggie on her heels.

"Going out on a date with him won't ruin your reputation. There was this bar in Savannah I went to this past week and I think it would be great date spot. We just need to find a way to get you two alone together again." Maggie followed Beth into her room, closing the door to her room behind them as she put her hand to her chin in thought.

"I have a lesson with Ann-Marie tomorrow." Beth offered, deciding to humor her sister just to get her out of her room faster.

"That's not alone. You'll have little ears listening in. And no doubt Daddy will pull Daryl to do something. I think he's been planing his own seeds."

"What is it with all of you trying to find me a man? I'm fine on my own." Beth huffed.

"Because we all know how when you like a guy, you don't do anything about it. So you need our help." Maggie retorted, giving Beth a look. "That's it!"

"What's it?"

"You can call Daryl and ask him to help you with your house. He's already offered to look it over for you to see if anything needed to be fixed, I'm sure if you asked him he'd be over in a heartbeat."

Beth was about to deny Maggie's statement when her phone began buzzing in her dresser drawer. Beth extracted it, expecting it to be Tara or Rosita calling, but an unfamiliar popped up instead. She gave Maggie a confused look before answering, holding the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

" _Hey_." At the sound of Daryl's rough voice, she felt a jolt go through her, straight to her stomach, causing it to jump. " _It's Daryl._ "

"Hey, Daryl. What's up?" Beth asked, waving Maggie off when she tried to get closer to hear what Daryl was saying.

" _Ann-Marie has a fever. I had to take her to urgent care tonight_."

"Oh no. Is she okay?"

" _Yeah, she'll be alright. Just an ear infection. But we won't be able to make it to her lesson tomorrow._ "

A small part of Beth couldn't help but think that Daryl might be lying, but she shook the intrusive thought immediately. Daryl wouldn't lie about his own daughter's well-being just to get out of talking to Beth. She had been hoping to at least breach the subject tomorrow, to see what he would say, but it looked like her plan wouldn't work. And she didn't want to bring it up too late after it had happened, lest he think she was dwelling on it. Which she wasn't. At least, not all the time.

"That's fine. I hope she feels better soon. Do you need anything?" Beth asked.

" _Nah, we're good._ " He paused. " _Thanks_."

Beth smiled slightly, slapping Maggie's hand away when she reached for the phone. "Just let me know if that changes."

" _Will do_." Another pause. " _How's the house_?"

"It's good. There are a few improvements I've been making, and hopefully I'll be able to move all my furniture in this coming week. It's really coming together."

"Invite him over to dinner!" Maggie hissed.

Beth frowned at her and gave her a shove as Maggie attempted to move closer to the phone again as Daryl said something she missed. "Sorry, Maggie's being a thorn. What did you say?"

" _I said I can come over and help with whatever you need. Looked like you might need help painting._ "

Beth smiled a little at his offer of help, her heart feeling warmer. "Yeah, I might. I'll let you know." When Maggie started to reach for the phone again, she stuck her legs out and put a foot on Maggie's chest, pushing to keep her at a distance. "I won't keep you any longer. Tell Ann-Marie I hope she gets better soon."

" _Will do_." With a goodbye, Beth hung up the phone and glared at Maggie. "Are you five? I was on the phone!"

"Why didn't you invite them over for dinner?" Maggie asked in return, frowning.

"Because Ann-Marie is my student and it would give the wrong idea if I invited _just_ the two of them over instead of all my students and their parents. It would look like I'm playing favorites." _Yeah, that's a good excuse. Try to twist that, Maggie_.

Maggie raised her eyebrows with a knowing smile. "But aren't you? Would you offer to watch any of your other students after school if their parents were late?"

"Do you eavesdrop on every conversation I have?" Beth huffed, climbing off her bed to walk downstairs, Maggie following on her heels.

"The windows were open! And your voice carries. How was I supposed to help it?" She shrugged innocently and Beth just rolled her eyes at her sister. "Well? Would you?"

"I can't wait until I move out." Beth grumbled in reply, pushing out the back door to go to the barn with Maggie's laughs emanating from behind her.

Beth spent her unexpectedly free Saturday and most of her free time the following week moving things from her room at the farm and her storage unit to her new house, eventually putting it together enough where she was able to officially move in on Thursday. She did her best to keep her mind off of Daryl Dixon by focusing on her schoolwork and the dress orders she had, but even then her mind couldn't help but wander to him, leading one time to Beth almost sewing through her finger at her sewing machine as she started to daydream.

Beth breathed a sigh of relief when she pulled into her own driveway of her own house that Friday afternoon after school let out, knowing she would have some alone time before she went to the middle-school football game. Several of her students were on the team and had asked if she would come since they were playing their biggest rival from Douglas, including Carl Grimes, who despite his small stature supposedly had a cannon of a leg, making him the star kicker. Lori had invited her herself and insisted Beth sit with them at the game that night, 'so she wouldn't have to sit alone'.

Beth showed up to the game right before kick-off with Maggie in tow, who had also insisted on coming because she claimed she didn't have anything else to do that night. Beth didn't think anything of it, since Maggie and Lori were both friends. Maybe Lori had invited Maggie too.

"Lori said she'd be somewhere around the righthand section." Beth told Maggie, scanning the crowd of the high-school stadium to see if she could see the Grimes family in the stands. The town only had one sports field, which was located at the high school, so all school games took place there. In the sea of royal blue, the team's color, everyone was indiscernible.

Maggie elbowed her and pointed halfway up the bleachers, where Lori was waving, trying to get their attention. Beth smiled and raised her hand in response, climbing up the bleachers to make it to their row, stopping short when she saw Daryl Dixon sitting at the end of the row with Ann-Marie. He looked up and his own eyes widened when he saw Beth standing there before he turned his gaze to the ground, suddenly becoming fascinated with the stitching on his work boots.

"I'm so glad y'all could make it." Lori grinned, leaning over Rick so they could hear her better over the crowd. "Beth, why don't you sit right there? Maggie, come sit by me. I want to hear all about how Glenn's doing." Lori said, giving no room for objections as she pointed for Beth to sit in the empty seat next to Daryl, who was still staring down at his boots.

Beth glared once at Maggie, who was trying her best to look innocent, and sat down next to Daryl hesitantly, looking over at him once before focusing out onto the field when it was obvious he wasn't going to look at her.

"Miss Beth!" Ann-Marie hopped down from her seat, moving in front of Beth to throw her small arms around her neck in a hug. Beth rested a hand on the little girl's back to hug her in return, pulling back and smiling at Ann-Marie's wide grin. She had her hair tied back in twin braids and one of her cheeks was decorated with a little temporary knight tattoo. Beth smiled again at the thought of Daryl trying to negotiate Ann-Marie's curly hair into braids. She knew her mother always had a tough time of it when she was younger and insisted on having braids.

"You look like you're feeling better, Ann-Marie." Beth commented as she sat down in the space between Beth and Daryl.

"Yep! My medicine tasted like bananas." She smiled. "I wanted to go to my lesson last week, but Daddy said I was con…cont…" She looked up at her father for help with pronouncing the word.

"Contagious." Daryl answered for her, still not meeting Beth's eyes, even when she looked directly at him.

"Contagious." Ann-Marie repeated, turning back to Beth. "It means I could get other people sick."

"We can't have that." Beth said, and Ann-Marie nodded in agreement.

"Miss Karen said it's rude to get other people sick." She kicked her feet happily, smiling again at Beth. "Miss Beth, have you seen Carl play before?"

"No, I haven't. Is he good?"

"He's the best." Ann-Marie declared, turning back to the field. "He can kick the ball all the way over his roof."

"He did what?" Rick said, looking over at Ann-Marie with a slight frown.

Ann-Marie pretended not to hear him, jumping out of her seat when she saw Carl's number 17 jersey step onto the field to cheer while Daryl shrugged at his friend. "Dixons know how to keep their mouths shut." He said.

Beth laughed lightly, noticing that with the sound Daryl finally looked over at her, acknowledging her presence. She smiled slightly at him before turning her attention back to the game. She couldn't help but feel his eyes on her at certain times throughout the game, as if he could tell she was still thinking about how he had left her outside her house last weekend. It wasn't that she wanted to dwell on it, but she did want to know why he reacted the way he did. Did he feel uncomfortable because he had feelings for her too? Beth shook the thought from her head, mentally kicking herself. That was ridiculous. _I'm Ann-Marie's teacher. Get your head on straight, Beth_.

"I think I'm going to get some peanuts." Beth announced, standing with her purse and looking at the rest of the group when the buzzer for half-time sounded. "Does anyone want anything?"

"I'll go with you." Daryl said, standing with her. "Ann-Marie, sit tight."

Beth caught Maggie's eye, who was smirking right alongside Lori. _Really? Her too_? Beth wondered just how many people in her life thought she was that desperately lonely that they were going to set her up with the first guy she thought was attractive. She was fine. She has been on her own for two years, and she was just fine.

They walked to the concession stand in silence, standing a comfortable distance from each other while they waited in line. Beth wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. She looked over and saw Daryl was reading the concessions menu intently, not even noticing Beth staring at the side of his face, willing him to look over. Before Beth could say anything, it was there turn to order. She smiled at Dale Horvath, the owner of the local hardware store, who had been volunteering at the concession stand for every sporting event along with his wife Irma since before Beth was born.

"How are you two doing tonight?" He smiled, looking between the two of them but not asking any other questions beyond that, which Beth was thankful for. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have a bag of peanuts." Beth said, reaching into her purse for her wallet.

"I'll take a Hershey's and a bag of peanuts too." Daryl said, handing the older man a ten-dollar bill and grabbing their refreshments before Beth could get her money out, guiding her away from the concessions stand.

"I can pay you back." Beth told him, holding out the money for the peanuts.

"Put your money away." He told her as they walked leisurely back to the bleachers. "Consider them apology peanuts."

"Apology peanuts?" Beth repeated.

He stopped fully, turning to look at her for the first time the entire night. He rubbed the back of his neck and shifted on his feet, visibly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. For leaving you like I did last Saturday. It was a dick move."

"Don't worry about it." Beth replied, smiling gently. "I'm sure you had to go check on Ann-Marie."

"Don't try to give me an out." Daryl ordered, narrowing his eyes when he realized what she was trying to do. His expression softened again as he looked at his boots again. "I was just being a pussy. I didn't know what to say so I just ran. I'm sorry."

Beth watched him for a few moments before stepping closer, waiting until he looked up at her to give him a reassuring smile. "Forget about it." She said, issuing an order of her own. "It's in the past."

"I'm—

"Don't you dare apologize again." She ordered in a mock-stern tone, and she saw a hint of a smile quirk at Daryl's lips. They started to walk again in silence, still taking their slow pace. Beth couldn't help but feel a little better knowing that it wasn't because he found her repulsive, though she knew he wouldn't ever say something like that. If he felt nervous, maybe she hadn't been reading the signs wrong. Maybe their feelings were mutual.

"If I can get a second chance, I want to go to the diner with you." Daryl told her, breaking the silence after a few feet.

"Promise not to leave me on the curb this time?" She teased, seeing the tips of his ears grow red at her jest.

"Promise." He swore, turning to look at her with an actual smile before they walked up the bleachers, finding their spots as they waited for the second half to start.

Beth smiled faintly as Ann-Marie tried to negotiate for the entire chocolate bar as soon as they sat down, which was met with a flat 'no' every time she brought up a new argument. She eventually relented when he gave her a square of the other half before leaning over and handing the rest to Beth silently. She smiled at him and she swore she saw his cheeks grow just a little pinker before he focused back on his daughter, showing her the best way to eat peanuts by sucking off all the salt from the shell before cracking it open to eat the inside.

Who was Beth kidding. She wanted something like that. She didn't want to be alone forever. She wanted someone to love her, and to be as great of a dad to her kids as Daryl was with Ann-Marie. She couldn't help but smile along with Ann-Marie's infectious grin as the little girl popped open the peanut, tilting her head back to get both beans at the same time just like Daryl did. She felt that tightening feeling in her chest and stomach as she watched the father-and-daughter pair.

Even though she knew she was never going to get it, watching Daryl, she knew exactly what she wanted.

* * *

 **I'll give you all one guess as to what Beth wants. And I'm going to get a cavity from writing Ann-Marie. She's just too sweet.**

 **If you have time, please leave a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter! I love hearing from y'all.**

 **Thank you for reading! Until next time~**


	7. Chapter 7

**HELLO EVERYONE! I know, it's been a REALLY long time. I had an incredibly severe case of writer's block (accompanied by several personal things that just drained me, so I didn't feel like writing), but I'm in a MUCH better place now (my semester from you-know-where is almost over, I got a new job, etc) and I decided with my snow day today that I'd finally buckle down and finish Chapter 7 because y'all deserve it.** **The best news is that Chapter 8 is basically almost written, so it should be out soon (I promise :) ).**

 **We're back to Daryl with this chapter. If you guys have any questions on some of the background events or people mentioned, don't hesitate to ask so I can explain when I post the next chapter. This world is huge in my head.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Poker night was the closest Daryl got to doing something religiously.

Every Thursday night for the past seven years, ever since Rick had dragged him over to his house for 'just a round', Daryl would go over to the Grimes' house to play poker with his friends. It was the one night of a week where he didn't have to constantly be in dad-mode, as Lori took Ann-Marie while the men were playing for them both to get their dose of girl time. Daryl loved his daughter, but he had to draw a line at having his fingernails painted.

The usual players were already there. Rick, Shane, Tobin, Tyreese, and Daryl sat around at the table on the Grimes' back porch, enjoying the cool night that signaled the arrival of fall and even colder weather to come. Luckily, the weather hadn't turned cold enough for them to have to move their games inside, where they would have to watch their language around the kids.

"Can't believe you stood Lori's friend up." Rick said again, frowning at Shane. "I'm never going to hear the end of it."

"Sorry, brother. I got a better offer." Shane smirked, taking a final pull of beer before throwing the empty bottle in the trashcan in the corner, almost hitting Morgan as he came out onto the porch.

"See you still have piss-poor aim." Morgan quipped, sitting down at sole empty chair at the table. "Surprised Daryl let's you go hunting with him."

"Yeah, when's the next time we're going?" Shane asked, turning to Daryl.

"Soon as you can learn to keep your big-ass feet quiet. You scared off all the game last time. Ann-Marie's quieter than you and she's only five." Daryl responded.

"Why're you late, Morgan?" Tyreese asked, leaning back in his chair on two legs. "You're usually on time."

"Jenny's been on my ass all week about coming tonight." Morgan said, tossing his jacket over the back of the last empty chair and sitting down. "I was barely able to get out of the house."

"Why so eager to get away? You're the one who cancels on us the most." Rick smiled wryly as he dealt him in.

"Jenny's mother is visiting."

All the men, minus Daryl, groaned. They all had grown up in Coleson, and from what they told Daryl, Jenny's mother had been a terror when it came to anything fun. Any parties were busted by the sheriff if she caught wind of them, and she had campaigned the school district to vet all music that had "sexual undertones" at school dances, claiming it was fouling the minds of the town's youth. Little did she know, her golden daughter had been sneaking out with Morgan and partaking in all the things her mother forbid. Daryl had been around when Mrs. Miller and her husband finally retired to Florida, and Morgan threw one of the craziest parties the town had ever seen.

"God be with you, Morgan. By the way, I can't help you move your fridge. I'm busy." Tobin announced, taking a swig of his beer.

"Coward." Morgan answered. "Can't blame you. I thought about faking my own kidnapping until she left, but Jenny would kill me for real." Morgan smiled. "Daryl, can you help? If you're not busy like Tobin."

As Daryl opened his mouth to speak, Rick cut him off.

"Nah, he's going on a date with Beth Greene." He smirked.

Daryl's head whipped around to frown at Rick. "What the hell you talking about?" Going to the diner with Beth wasn't a date, was it? They were just hanging out. As friends. Or people who wanted to be more than friends. _Shit, it's like I'm in high school. Should just ask her out and see what she says_.

"Lori said you two have been making moon-eyes at each other. And you'll have to do something to make up for ditching her like you did. A date seems appropriate."

"You gossip more than your wife." Daryl told him, calling Tobin's raise. "And I don't make moon-eyes. I'm not a damn teenager."

"Whatever you say, man." Shane laughed. "When's Glenn getting back into town? I need some actual competition."

"Eat crow, Walsh, because I just won." Morgan cackled, laying down his four of a kind and taking the pot as the rest of the men groaned and cursed.

"So when are you calling Beth?" Rick while he dealt another hand.

"Lay off it, okay?"

"Carol said she saw you two at the diner last week." Tobin said nonchalantly, refusing to look at Daryl as if he could feel the glare boring into the side of his head. He and Beth had gone out to the diner for a late lunch while Ann-Marie was at soccer practice the Saturday after the football game, but Daryl didn't know if he would have called it a date. The diner wasn't exactly the most romantic place, and Beth had been her same, bubbly self, talking almost non-stop when Daryl asked her about the dresses she was working on, and how school was going. Daryl didn't mind. He liked listening to her talk. And she looked so damn pretty in her dress with the little stars.

"Wait, what? Why didn't I hear about this?" Rick demanded.

"Surprised you didn't. You gossip more than Lori." Shane grumbled, earning a punch in the arm from Rick.

"Well? How did it go?" Rick pressed, setting his new hand face-down, focusing on Daryl.

Daryl shrugged. "It was just lunch. Wasn't a big deal."

"Figures the one day I'm not at the diner." Tyreese grumbled. "Did y'all make plans for a next time?"

"She didn't mention anything about a next time."

"What did you talk about?"

"We talked about Ann-Marie and the lessons. She asked about the construction business. She really did most of the talking."

"Did she make a move at the end of the date? You know, moving closer, leaning in, that sort of thing?" Shane asked eagerly.

"I didn't notice." _Wanted to kiss her, just to see what it felt like, but there were people around. Don't give a shit what people say, but Beth might. Don't want to cause drama for her over something she might not even want_.

"Goddammit, Dixon, you're killing me." Shane groaned.

"She probably didn't think it was a date." Rick suggested. "Did you pick her up at her house?"

Daryl frowned. "Was I supposed to pick her up?"

Shane smacked a hand on the table. "Do you know anything about dating?" He demanded.

"Obviously not as much as you. Who's the love-of-your-life this week?" Daryl frowned.

"None of your business. _This_ is our business now. If I have to watch you stare after Beth Greene one more time, I'm going to vomit. Go call her again."

"Fuck no."

"If you don't do it, I'm never going to hear the end of it from Lori." Rick said. "If I get a better hand than you for three rounds, you have to call Beth right after and ask her out on a _real_ date."

"And what if I win?" Daryl questioned, crossing his arms.

"Then you finally get my Triumph in the garage that you've had your eye on for forever."

"Deal. This is gonna be easy." Daryl smirked.

An hour later, Daryl was standing near the edge of the porch, glaring at his friends as they watched him expectantly while he called Beth Greene.

"It's ten at night. She's not even going to pick up." He hissed as the phone rang.

"Then leave her a message, you baby."

" _Daryl? Is everything okay_?" Beth's voice sounded from the other end of the line, sounding concerned. Probably from getting a call in the middle of the night just because someone lost a bet.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Did I wake you up?"

" _No, I'm working on Maggie's birthday dress right now. It's almost done, but I just can't get the flare on the skirt to look right_." She paused for a moment. " _But I'm sure you don't want to hear about my dress troubles_."

"No, tell me." He said, walking into the house to sit in the living room, away from prying ears. He poked his head into the Grimes' spare bedroom quickly to check on Ann-Marie, who was already sound asleep on the bed, her stuffed octopus tucked safely in her arms. Daryl smiled slightly before closing the door behind him and making his way to the living room while Beth continued to speak.

" _Well, it all started with the fabric I ordered_ …"

Just hearing Beth's voice made him calm down from the ribbing his friends were giving him. He sat on the couch, rubbing Beau's ears when his companion sat down next to him and rested his head on his knee. Daryl didn't know shit about anything Beth was talking about, but he tried to follow along and ask questions he didn't think were too stupid when there were pauses, just to show he was actually listening and to keep her talking.

" _So I don't know what I'm going to do._ " Beth finally said once she had finished. " _I can't scrap the dress, but I have no idea how to make the skirt look right. I might ask my mom for help. She makes her own dresses sometimes_." She let out a sudden hiss." _Oh, crap._ "

"You okay?" Daryl asked, shocked at Beth Greene cursing, even mildly. She seemed too good for that.

" _Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Almost stabbed a pin through my finger though. It's fine. It's not bleeding too bad_."

"You gonna lose the finger?"

Beth laughed lightly. " _No, I think we don't need to resort to amputation. A bandaid should be fine. As long as I can find one_." She let out a long sigh. _"Sorry for rambling on, but thanks for letting me rant. It feels good to get it off my chest_." She explained." _So, why'd you call me_?"

"I wanted to hear you rant about your dress." Daryl deadpanned.

" _Hardy har har, very funny, Mr. Dixon. Seriously, though. You're sure everything is alright? Did Ann-Marie's ear infection come back_?"

"No, everything's fine." He swallowed to clear the lump forming in his throat. "I wanted to call and ask if you wanted to go to Savannah with me Saturday night. If you're free."

" _Sure! That sounds like fun._ " Before Daryl got too eager about her accepting the date, however, Beth continued. " _I've been meaning to go into Savannah for a while to pick up more sewing supplies. It's almost fate that you asked. We can carpool and save on gas_."

 _What the hell. That's not what I meant._ "Beth—

" _Oops, I'm sorry, Daryl, I have to go. Maggie's screaming bloody murder downstairs. I have to see what it is so I can help. And make fun of her for it later. I'll see you on Saturday_?"

Daryl took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose while he squeezed his eyes shut. "Yeah. See you then." Daryl let his head drop to the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling after Beth hung up the phone. _Got no clue how to do this shit_.

The following Saturday, Daryl and Ann-Marie arrived promptly five minutes before the start of her piano lesson, parking in Beth's driveway. Daryl noticed several empty moving boxes, plastic planters, and a few paint cans stacked next to Beth's front door, along with a few flower pots freshly planted with mums on the windowsill.

" _Shit_!" Daryl heard Beth yell from inside her house, breaking him out of his observations as he and Ann-Marie stopped on the front porch. Her shout was followed by several loud banging noises.

"Is Miss Beth okay?" Ann-Marie asked, her eyebrows pulled together with a small frown.

"I'm sure she is." Daryl answered, knocking loudly. "Beth?" He yelled through the door.

"Come in! Give me a second!" She yelled back.

They stepped into the living room, finding some unpacked boxes lying near the hallway and several hampers of laundry sitting on the floor near the couch. It definitely wasn't messy, but it looked hectic compared to how neat Beth's classroom looked when he went to visit her. He heard a commotion coming from somewhere to his right where he remembered the kitchen was.

Beth was bent over the sink, gripping a towel around the faucet with all her might as water spewed from a broken handle forgotten on the counter next to her. She looked over her shoulder and gave the two of them a smile. "Hey! Just give me a second, I'm trying to figure out how to turn the water off." She looked to Daryl. "Help please?"

Daryl slipped slightly trying to maneuver across the slick floor to the sink, where he quickly dived under the sink to shut off the water. The water stopped spraying out of the broken faucet handle a few moments later, pathetically bubbling from the open handle until it stopped completely.

"Thank you so much." Beth panted, running a hand through her soaked hair. "The faucet was leaking this morning and I tried to follow the instructions in this how-to book, but I guess it didn't work because the handle just came off in my hand, and then..." She gestured to the water covering the surrounding cabinets and pooling on the floor, and the soaked book to the left of the counter. "Guess I can't return it to the library now."

"Don't worry 'bout it." He told her. "Nobody goes to libraries anyways."

Beth rolled her eyes at him and wrung her hair out over the sink."I probably should have asked my dad about house maintenance before I moved out." She laughed nervously. "I think I might be in a little over my head."

"You could get another book."

"Hey, poke fun at my how-to books all you want, but I was able to fix my railing with a woodworking one I picked up from the library."

Daryl looked out through the kitchen window where she was pointing. "It's crooked."

"Everyone's a critic. At least I still have all my fingers." She held up both hands towards him for proof.

"What's that bandage on your thumb from?"

"None of your business." She said quickly as Daryl smirked. "Let me go change into something dry and I'll be back out. Ann-Marie, if you want to go into the room and practice your scales while I change. Daryl, I finally got my cable hooked up so you can watch television in the front room if you'd like."

"Okay!" Ann-Marie quickly slipped off her shoes and placed them by the front door before running back into the practice room, the sound of a meticulous playing beginning just a few moments later. While Beth disappeared after her, Daryl searched the kitchen, finally finding some towels to start cleaning up the water that doused the area around the sink.

"Okay, let's get this—Oh, you're already done." Beth said, walking back into the kitchen just a few minutes later to find Daryl already finished with cleaning the kitchen. "You didn't have to do that."

Daryl shrugged as he stood while gathering the towels he had used to clean up the water around the kitchen and throwing them in a laundry basket around the corner. "Wasn't doing anything. Figured I'd help out."

"Thank you." Beth smiled, and Daryl felt that pull in his stomach return. "Help yourself to anything in the fridge. I should get to Ann-Marie."

Beth disappeared down the hall to join Ann-Marie in the practice room, leaving Daryl alone in the kitchen. He wasn't much of a TV person; the only reason he had one was so Ann-Marie would have something to do when it was too cold or rainy outside for her to go out and play, and even then she hardly ever watched it, so watching television while he waited wasn't very appealing. He looked around the kitchen and saw a faucet box sitting near some unpacked boxes on the counter. _Must be why hers broke. She needs a new one._

Thirty minutes later, Daryl was almost done installing the new faucet after going out to his truck to get the necessary tools. Everything else usually fell away while he worked, besides the occasional thought about if Ann-Marie was okay when he didn't bring her to job sites to keep an eye on her. But the past several weeks he found his mind drifting to Beth Greene, almost injuring various appendages as he distracted himself by thinking of the way she smiled at him at the football game, or how Beth kept unintentionally scooting closer to him to combat the unexpectedly chilly Georgia night until their legs were almost touching because she hadn't brought a sweater, but Daryl hadn't been complaining.

"What are you doing Daddy?"

Daryl jerked slightly at the sudden noise breaking him out of his thoughts, hitting his head on the U-bend of the pipe.

"Shit." Daryl hissed, holding a hand to his head. "Ann-Marie, what did we talk about?"

"Grape popsicles are the devil?"

"Besides that."

"I need to stop sneaking up on people." She answered, adding "But that's no fun." under her breath.

Daryl shimmied out from underneath the sink after turning the water back on and grabbed a towel to wipe his hands, looking to Beth. "The faucet should be good. Let me know if it gives you any more trouble."

"Did you install the new one?" Beth squeezed past him to the sink, testing it before turning back to him. "Daryl, you really didn't need to do that. I have someone coming out next week to install it."

"Well, now you don't need to waste your money." He started packing up his tools, looking over at Beth and seeing her frown. "What?"

"Oh no, you're not doing this again. You wait right here. Let me find my wallet." Beth ordered, rushing back to her bedroom. Daryl knew there was no way he was getting away from Beth this time. Ann-Marie wouldn't let them make a getaway like they had last time, telling him in the car that leaving without saying goodbye was 'rude'. _Sure Karen taught her that. She's always rattling on about how I can't just sit there at dinner without talking because it's 'rude'._

Beth reemerged several minutes later, thumbing through her wallet. "Sorry, I had a hard time finding it. I thought I had left it at school." She handed him three 20s with a smile.

Daryl took them and frowned. "What's this?"

"What? That's how much the other guy said it would be."

"Then he's trying to rob you blind." Daryl set it on the counter. "Install for a lesson."

"Daryl—

"I know you Greene's won't take no, but keep your mouth shut for once." Daryl attempted to cut the bite of his words with his version of a smile. Beth responded by pressing her lips in a hard line, obviously not happy with keeping quiet.

"Fine. Are we still going to Savannah tonight?"

"That's what I was planning. You still want to go?"

Beth rolled her eyes, a smile spreading across her face, making a knot of worry Daryl didn't know had clenched his stomach unwind. _Damn, got to stop acting like this_.

"Of course, silly. I'm excited. It's been a long time since I've been able to go to Savannah. Is Ann-Marie—where did she go?"

Daryl looked down at the empty spot where his daughter had been standing a few moments ago and let out a low growl. "Every time…" He walked to the door and turned back to look at Beth. "I'll pick you up around six. Is that alright?"

"Six sounds fine. I'll see you then."

After wrangling Ann-Marie back into the truck and back home, ignoring her protests that 'It was Beau's fault' that she had wandered off, again, Daryl set to finding things to keep Ann-Marie occupied while Grace, Tobin's youngest daughter, came over to watch her while Daryl was gone for the night. Sophia, although old enough to watch Ann-Marie, was usually her accomplice whenever they got into trouble. Carol and Daryl were still trying to figure out who was the mastermind behind their antics, but they always kept quiet whenever questioned.

"Can you promise me you'll be good for Grace tonight?" Daryl asked, cleaning up after an early dinner while Ann-Marie watched him from a barstool.

"I don't make promises." Ann-Marie said with a devilish grin.

"Where'd you get that from?"

"Someone said it on TV."

"Grace'll be reporting back to me, so I better not hear anything about you acting up. You know better." Daryl ordered, lifting her off her perch and directing her into the living room to

"But the blood trick was so fun!"

"And you got grounded for two weeks."

"That was no fun." She grumbled.

"And it'll happen again if you mess with Grace. You know she can't handle it. I had to bribe her to get her to watch you tonight."

"Can't I come with you?" Ann-Marie asked, climbing up next to him when he sat on the couch.

"It'll be past your bedtime when I get back. You need to get your sleep."

"But who's going to read me my bedtime story?" Ann-Marie climbed into his lap and rested against his chest, already looking a little tired after the long day.

"Grace will read it to you. She always does."

"But she doesn't do the voices like you do."

Daryl's phone rang, interrupting Ann-Marie's protests while he extracted the flip phone from his back pocket and seeing Grace's name pop up.

" _Mr. Dixon, I'm so sorry._ " was the first thing Daryl heard, and the rest poured out in an unbroken stream of word vomit. " _Hannah came back into town with her new boyfriend, and she and Dad got into a huge fight and Claire and I are afraid that if we leave they're going to kill each other._ "

"Do you need me to call Rick?" Daryl asked, standing from the couch with Ann-Marie holding onto him like a monkey.

" _No, it's—-"_ The sounds of breaking glass interrupted Grace followed by Claire yelling " _You BITCH!_ " in the background. " _Yes please. No lights._ " She relented quietly.

"I'll let him know. You want me to come over?"

" _No, we'll be fine. Hannah sobers up when the law gets involved. Besides, I don't want you missing your date._ "

"It's not a—" but Grace had already hung up before he could finish his sentence. He looked down at Ann-Marie, still clinging to him with a wide smile. "Looks like you're coming with me to Savannah."

Daryl quickly called Rick to explain the situation ( _"You're shitting me. Again?!"_ ) and twenty minutes later he pulled into Beth Greene's driveway with Ann-Marie in the back seat, practically bursting that she was going to go on a road trip with Miss Beth.

Beth was already on the porch when they arrived, flashing a bright smile Daryl could see through the evening twilight that made his stomach clench the way it normally did when Beth Greene all but looked at him. She bounced to the passenger's side of the truck, hopping in before it registered that Daryl probably should have opened the door for her. She was still wearing the same clothes from earlier in the morning, but she had curled her hair and put on perfume, from the faint smell of flowers that entered the cab with her.

"Ann-Marie, I didn't know you were coming." Beth said, turning to smile at her before smiling at Daryl. "This'll be even more fun."

"Grace couldn't watch me because her sister's a bitch." Ann-Marie parroted to Beth.

Beth looked to Daryl, her eyebrows knit together in worry.

"Watch your mouth." Daryl said.

"But Claire said it first." Ann-Marie protested.

"I don't care what Claire said, I'm your dad and I'm saying you're not allowed to talk like that until you're at least sixteen."

"Sixteen seems pretty young." Beth teased while Daryl turned around to back out onto the street.

"Based on how you was talking this morning, I'm sure you started way before sixteen." Daryl quipped back.

"How dare you insinuate that, Mr. Dixon. I'm a good, God-fearing Christian who would never speak like that." Beth looked down in her purse. "Oh crap, I forgot my phone."

"Miss Beth said it!" Ann-Marie exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger.

"I said _no_."

The rest of the hour-long drive was just as borderline chaotic, with Beth and Ann-Marie talking nonstop about anything and everything; where they were going, what Beth needed to buy, was the 'fabric lady' nice, why did Beth make her own clothes ("Are you Amish?"—A question that made Daryl snort a laugh despite himself), and of course, music.

"Can I turn on your radio?" Beth asked, looking at him with wide eyes. "Unless you don't usually listen to music in the car."

"We always listen to music in the car." Ann-Marie piped in.

Beth looked back to Daryl, waiting for confirmation, smiling when he nodded. _Damn, can't even say no to her. What the fuck is wrong with me?_

"Country Gold should be on by now." Beth said, fiddling with the dials of the old school radio in Daryl's car until the sounds of Patsy Cline's _I Fall to Pieces_ flowed through the cab.

"I love this song." Beth smiled, leaning back in her seat. "I wish I could sing like her."

Daryl didn't respond, instead stealing a glance at Beth from the corner of his eye, her eyes partially closed while she listened to the radio. A strand of her long blond hair had escaped from her braid and fell to obscure part of her face. Daryl felt the strong urge to reach over and tuck it behind her ear so he could see her better, but he fought it by gripping the steering wheel more tightly, staying silent and keeping his eyes on the road for the rest of the drive.

Once they got into Savannah, he let Beth guide him down the narrow streets, admiring the craftsmanship of the old houses they passed until Beth pointed to a low-standing building sitting near downtown. "You're going to love Jacqui. She's the best. And there are so many different fabrics in there, and she'll order anything you need." Beth climbed out of the cab once Daryl was parked and went to Ann-Marie's door to help her out of the car before Daryl could make his way over there. He watched silently while Beth helped her put her jacket on and took her hand before they came around the front to meet Daryl on the sidewalk. He wondered if Ann-Marie would ever have someone to act as a mother-figure for her. _She doesn't need anyone else. She's got me_.

"Daddy." Ann-Marie said, dropping Beth's hand once they were on the sidewalk and holding her arms up to be held.

"Your legs break?"

Ann-Marie frowned at him but continued to hold her arms up, stretching up on her toes for emphasis.

"Told you you was going to be tired." Daryl said but lifted her up onto his hip, letting her rest on his shoulder while he followed Beth into the fabric shop, blinking at the sudden burst of color when they stepped through the door. The quiet tinkling of a bell announced their entrance and a few moments later a tall African-American woman with high cheekbones and alert eyes emerged from the back and grinned when she saw Beth.

"I didn't know you were coming in tonight. I would have made something for you to take back." Jacqui hugged Beth tightly and gave Daryl a smile before stepping back and moving around the small counter, piled high with different bolts and scraps of fabric stacked precariously on top of one another. "And who did you bring with you?"

"Jacqui, this is Daryl and Ann-Marie. This is Jacqui, fabric connoisseur and my soundboard whenever I think I'm about to lose my mind." Beth smiled. "Jacqui went to high school with my mom."

"Beth, you've never mentioned your family before. What a beautiful little girl. She looks just like her daddy. She has your smile though." Jacqui crooned, tickling Ann-Marie under her chin. The little girl, uncharacteristically shy, turned and buried her face in Daryl's shoulder, her grip on him tightening.

"Oh, she's not—I mean, we're not…" Beth gestured between her and Daryl, finally standing still and clearing her throat with her arms ramrod straight at her sides. "We're just friends. I give his daughter piano lessons." _Is she blushing_?

"Oh, I'm sorry. I could have sworn…" Jacqui shook her head and smiled. "I'll get your order from the office."

Daryl looked at Beth as the owner disappeared, interested in her shoes and looking around the shop instead of looking at Daryl. _She's definitely blushing. Her cheeks ain't usually that pink._

"Oh, look, Jacqui got some new denim in." She said suddenly, walking quickly to the other side of the store, keeping her back to Daryl. "I could make a pair of jeans for Shawn. He usually has to get a new jeans every few months because he just runs them ragged, but if I used something like this he might be able to use them for longer. But I don't have recent measurements—"

"You usually talk this much when you're nervous?" Daryl smirked when she looked back at him.

"Who says I'm nervous?" She retorted. She grabbed the bolt of fabric and held it in a way that obscured her face, but Daryl could still see—she was beet red.

"Okay, I have everything right here." Jacqui set three bolts of fabric and a small paper bag on the counter. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, I'm all set. Thank you." Beth leaned across the counter and gave Jacqui a hug before turning back to Daryl. "You ready?"

"Here, let me." Daryl set Ann-Marie down, to her protest, and grabbed the bolts from the counter, leaving the bag for Beth. "Come on, sugar bean."

They let Ann-Marie lead the way out of the shop, starting the short walk from the store to where they parked Daryl's truck.

"Gosh, I love going in there. I always get so many ideas just from looking at all the different patterns. I could design all day." Beth sighed.

"Why don't you do this stuff full-time then?" Daryl asked, shifting the bolts of fabric in his arms to have one hand free as Ann-Marie reached up to grab his.

"Because I want to feed myself." Beth quipped.

"So you became a teacher. Makes sense."

Beth shot hm a look. "When you're only having to take care of yourself, the pay is fine sometimes. I can see why teachers with families worry though."

"Do you like it though?"

"Do you like being a contractor?"

Daryl shrugged. "I like working with my hands. Seeing the results of something and knowing you did it. Hard work feels good. And it pays good money. I'll be able to send Ann-Marie to college if she wants to go."

"I want to go to University of North Carolina." Ann-Marie announced, smiling up at the adults. "I want to play soccer for them."

"Still trying to convince her to go in-state, else I'll have to be working till I'm sixty to pay it off."

"You sure it's not because you want her close?" Beth teased.

Daryl merely grunted in response. "You didn't answer my question."

Beth sighed, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "In a perfect world, this is what I would be doing. Designing. Or a singer. Maybe both. But being successful enough to have your own company and make a decent living off of it is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. And I didn't want to take that chance. I wanted to be able to provide for the family I'll have someday. Who knows, maybe I can make clothes for them. It would save money."

They finally reached the truck, just in time for Ann-Marie to declare she was tired. While Beth helped get his daughter into her booster seat, Daryl situated her sewing supplies next to Ann-Marie in the back before climbing in the driver's seat to drive them home. Ann-Marie was out before they even made it out of the city.

"Wait, don't you need to get your stuff too? I thought that's why we came." Beth suddenly said once they were on the open road, looking worried that they had forgotten something.

"No. I didn't need to get anything." Daryl said, glancing over at the puzzled look on her face.

"But, I thought—

"Just thought it might be nice to go to Savannah together. See if you'd be up for it." He explained, feeling his ears growing hot. _Damn it_.

Beth let out a quiet "oh", turning back to look out the windshield. "So when you called me on Thursday, you were asking if I wanted to—

"Yeah."

" _Oh_." Beth breathed. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize."

"Don't worry about it."

They kept quiet for the rest of the ride. Daryl pretended it was because they didn't want to wake up Ann-Marie, but she could sleep through a stampede of elephants. He could feel that Beth was uncomfortable, and he didn't want to add on to it by his piss-poor small talk. _Shit, Dixon, you ruined it. Went and opened your fucking mouth and now she doesn't even want to be in the same car as you. Fuck. Need to apologize before it gets worse._

Daryl finally pulled into the driveway of Beth's house, shutting off the engine and climbing out when she did.

"This is definitely a step up from getting left on the cub." Beth said, breaking their silence with a small smile, giggling when he frowned. "I'm just kidding." _That's a good sign_.

He didn't really know how to do any of this. The last date he had been on was a disaster. Lori had sprung it on him when he went to meet her and Rick for dinner. His date just so happened to be Lori's college roommate, who told Daryl she loved him in the parking lot outside the restaurant and tried to go home with him, an idea which quickly went up in flames as soon as he told her he had a daughter while trying to keep her hands off of him. It had been four years, and he still had to watch when he answered the phone to make sure he didn't accidentally answer one Crazy Candi's calls, as Shane aptly named her.

Daryl stopped in front of her door, waiting for Beth to unlock it. Before she did, she turned back to him with a shy smile, looking down at her shoes. "Thank you, for tonight. I had fun. It's always better to drive with someone."

"Sure you just didn't want a chauffeur?" Daryl asked.

"You've figured me out. I was just using you to get a ride." Beth rolled her eyes at him for the second time that day. "Maybe we could do it again, sans Ann-Marie?"

Daryl's heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. He nodded, giving her a half-smile. _Fuck yes._

Beth moved forward so quickly Daryl thought she was going to knock him down but instead, she hugged him and he felt a ghost of her lips move on the stubble of his cheek before she pulled back with a small smile. "I'll see you later." She said, disappearing inside her house and turning off the front porch light so only the warm glow from her windows leaked outside.

"Shit, you better not fuck this up." He muttered to himself, rubbing his cheek where Beth had kissed him. _Gonna do everything I can not to._

* * *

 **Things are heating up! Daryl's plan for a date might have not gone as planned, but they still got a little closer.**

 **If you have time, please leave a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter! I love hearing from y'all.**

 **Thank you for reading! Until next time~**


	8. Chapter 8

**What?! An update two days in a row?! Unheard of! (at least for me).**

 **You guys definitely deserve it, and like I said, Chapter 8 was pretty much already written, so I decided to finish it up so we can progress a little further in the story. The first few chapters of this story is the definition of a slow burn, but don't you worry, things will heat up pretty quickly once Beth and Daryl finally have their first date :)**

 **I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think.**

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"Are you trying to tell me that you _don't like_ Tanya Tucker?" Beth demanded.

Daryl leaned back in his chair across from her desk, smirking. "She's about as country as Cheryl Crow."

"Tanya Tucker is a _legend_. I can't believe you don't like her." Beth made a point of turning up the volume on her radio, currently playing Tanya Tucker, smiling as Daryl rolled his eyes.

They were sitting in Beth's classroom, waiting for the final bell to ring. Beth had learned Daryl was usually early to everything, including picking up his daughter from school. So when Beth saw him sitting in his truck in the parking lot at 2:30, she forced him to come inside and hang out in her classroom until the final bell. She never had classes past 2:30, and even though she was supposed to use her last thirty minutes for "planning", she usually spent it bored out of her skull waiting for 3:00 because she always did her planning in the morning. For the past two weeks Daryl would come into her room and they would talk until he left to go get Ann-Marie from her classroom.

Beth relished in the small amounts of time they spend together near the end of the day. It allowed her to get to know Daryl more, and she could tell he was growing more comfortable talking with her, even though he still was a man of few words. But although they had started to spend more time together, Daryl still hadn't mentioned anything about going on a proper date, one where it would just be the two of them. _Maybe he doesn't know how to ask. Should I bring it up again?_

"Are you going to the football game tonight?" Daryl asked, breaking Beth from her thoughts. She looked at him and shook her head.

"No, Tara's coming back into town this weekend for Meghan's birthday. I'm meeting her and Rosita at the diner later tonight. Hopefully they won't force me to go to Axel's."

"What's wrong with Axel's? The beer's cheap."

"I don't think parents would want to see their child's teacher in a bar doing shots." Beth started to gather her things when she heard the bell ring. "I'll probably turn in early like the grandma I am."

"Well, have fun with your prunes and orthotics." Daryl said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Beth almost stopped him, wanting to ask him out on a date for the following night, but she promised Tara she would go to Meghan's party. _Maybe he'll be there. Ann-Marie and Meghan are around the same age._

Beth went back home, finishing the hem on Maggie's dress and doing a little dance when she realized it was finally finished. _Maggie's going to love this_. She checked her watch, cursing when she realized she had lost track of time and was late to meet Tara. She walked as quickly as she could to the diner, being only a short distance away from her house, and smiled when she saw Tara sitting in their normal booth right in front of the order window, restlessly tapping her fingers on the table next to her untouched plate of food, her eyes sweeping the restaurant. A force of habit, from being a police officer in Macon.

"Well _finally_. I thought you were dead." Tara complained when Beth came up to the booth, but stood and gave her a tight hug before Beth sat down. There was already a plate of chicken strips and French fries waiting for her, most likely by Maggie who knew her order before Beth even had to say it.

"My cause of death would have been boredom, just thinking about all the cop stories you're going to tell me this weekend." Beth pretended to snore, laughing when Tara tried to kick her under the table.

"Come on, you _know_ you loved that story about the streaking old man." Tara grinned. "That had to be the highlight of my career, and it's only been five years."

"Where's Maggie?" Beth asked after looking around the diner and not seeing her sister working.

"She left on break as soon as I got here. Something about dropping your dad something for dinner because of the late night. I honestly wasn't paying that close attention. I was too hungry." Tara admitted, waving a french fry around before popping it in her mouth.

"How was the drive down?"

"Not a lot of people, thank God. Hopefully it's the same on the way back. Denise wants to go some benefit thing Sunday night."

"Denise?" Beth frowned. "What happened to Alisha?"

"Alisha's long gone. She started to get in with these weirdos from her work and I didn't want to be around when she became a full-fledged member of their cult."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

Tara raised an eyebrow. "Wanna bet?"

"You do have a tendency to over-exaggerate. So when do I get to meet this Denise?"Beth asked before Tara could protest.

"Probably when I come back for Thanksgiving. We're moving in together at the beginning of November." Tara smiled.

"And you've been dating how long?"

"Stop it. The heart wants when the heart wants."

"And your heart is going to want your CD collection back when you break up."

"Everyone's a critic."

"And how's work?"

"Dawn's been busting my ass lately." Tara complained, munching on another fry. "It's like no matter what I do, it's always wrong. I'm going by the book to a T, and somehow I always mess up to her. And no matter what happens at the station, it could be that a lightbulb just burned out, it's always my fault. I just wish I could tell her to go to hell."

"You do that. Let me know what you plan on doing after you get fired." Beth responded, taking a sip of her coffee and smiling when Tara gave her a look. "You could have worked in the sheriff's office."

"I want to be in the city. More happens there, and I don't have to pick up people I went to high school with on the weekends for being idiots. Besides, if I had Shane Walsh staring at my ass all day, I'm pretty sure I would shoot him." Tara frowned. "Someday, I might transfer back someplace closer to home, but enough about me. How's the teaching gig going so far?"

"Pretty well. The kids are eager to learn, and I haven't had any problems with the parents so far."

"Oh, I'm sure you haven't." Tara smirked over her cup.

Beth frowned at her. "What?"

"Just stuff I've heard through Lilly." Tara shrugged.

"I thought you didn't gossip."

"When it comes to my best friend and how she's holding out information about her new boyfriend, then I have to listen to that PTA crap."

"For the last time, Daryl Dixon _is not_ my boyfriend."

"And yet you knew exactly who I was referring to." Tara pointed out with a grin.

Beth rolled her eyes. "I'm his daughter's teacher and give her piano lessons. He and I are just friends."

"Sure you are. Must be why he stops by your classroom every day before he picks Ann-Marie up." She nodded, looking to the door as the bell tinkled above it, Rosita sliding into Beth's side of the booth just moments later, grease spots still on her face.

"God, I'm starving. My dad had me working on a lost cause all day." She said, reaching over Beth to grab a menu.

"I thought you could fix _anything_." Tara smirked.

Rosita frowned at her in response. "I can, but I'm not a miracle worker."

"What do you want, Rosita?" Tyreese called from the kitchen window, not waiting for the other waitress to come to their table.

"Got any rye bread?" She yelled back.

"One Reuben, coming up." He responded, disappearing from their view.

"So, you get anything out of her about lover boy?" Rosita asked, drinking from Beth's water glass as she looked at Tara.

"He's _not_ my boyfriend." Beth repeated adamantly, grabbing her glass back with a glare.

"Who's not your boyfriend?"

All three girls looked to Amy, who had appeared silently at the end of their table, order pad at the ready. Beth immediately frowned, wishing more than anything that she could tell Amy to get lost. They had never gotten along, especially in high school, where it seemed like Amy's personal mission in life was to make Beth miserable, giving Beth the nickname 'Skeeter' due to her small chest, a nickname that had unfortunately spread past Amy and her cronies. Beth would still run into the occasional high school acquaintance who would call her Skeeter, oblivious to the origin of the nickname. She doubted anyone besides Amy would be that cruel.

"What do you care, Amy?" Rosita frowned.

"I don't. I'm just surprised anyone would be interested in Skeeter." She smirked, looking at Beth. Beth's hands clenched into fists as she tried to control herself. _She's not worth it._

"Why don't you go find an ass to kiss, Amy?" Tara spat.

"No fighting in my diner." Tyreese ordered, coming up to their table and setting a Reuben in front of Rosita. "Amy, go do inventory. Maggie'll be back from her break soon. Karen and I can manage."

Amy gave one smug look at Beth before sauntering away, apparently satisfied that she had gotten under the girls' skin. The girls let out a collective sigh at her absence, not realizing how tense they had been until they relaxed. None of them had fond memories of Amy from high school, and for good reason. When Rosita and Tara had stood up for Beth, Amy decided to include them in her vendetta, telling everyone that would listen Tara was a lesbian before she had even come out to her parents and starting a rumor that Rosita was sleeping with one of their teachers. No one had believed her, but it had still left its mark.

Tyreese turned to the group with his hands on his hips. "Any chance you'll ever leave the high school drama in high school?"

"She's the one that brings it up constantly." Tara grumbled, stabbing a fry with her fork.

"Why do you even have her working here?" Rosita asked.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's a favor for her dad. She needed a job, so I gave her one. But she's quitting soon. Something about moving to Macon with her boyfriend. I tune her out most of the time."

"She'll be your problem then." Beth smiled at Tara, yelping in pain when Tara planted a kick squarely in her shin.

Tyreese rolled his eyes. "Every single damn day with girls…" He muttered as he walked away.

Beth, Tara, and Rosita talked for the next few hours, earning several disapproving looks from the older patrons for making 'too much of a ruckus', especially when Maggie finally came back from her break and joined them when she didn't have to help customers. It was well past eight when Tara and Rosita decided to take the party elsewhere, trying to convince Beth to go with them to Axel's for drinks, but Beth made her excuses and went to see her father at his practice across the street when she saw the lights were still on.

"Daddy?" Beth called out when she entered the office, looking to the reception desk. Patricia had already gone home for the day, the only light on in the quaint waiting area was the lamp closest to the front door. Beth checked the calendar and saw the last appointment was supposed to be at 7:30. What was he still doing here?

"Back here, Bethy." He responded from one of the exam rooms. Beth followed the sound of his voice and found him stocking supplies in one of the cabinets. He turned and looked when she entered the room and sat down in one of the chairs. "How were Tara and Rosita?"

"They were good. They went to Axel's for drinks. I decided to opt out." Beth shrugged. "Are you done for the day?"

Hershel looked up from his chart and shook his head. "No, one more patient, then we'll get to go home."

"Really? There wasn't one on the schedule." Beth frowned, wondering if she had read it wrong. The Joneses' beagle should have been his last appointment.

"Daryl Dixon called a few minutes ago. Said his daughter found two dogs in the ditch in front of their house, looked like they had been dumped there. He wanted to bring them in to make sure they were okay." He explained, the bell above the door to the clinic tinkling softly as it opened.

"Don't worry, sugar bean. They'll be fine." She heard Daryl assure his daughter softly.

"But what if they're hurt?" Ann-Marie sounded frantic as she spoke to her father, and Beth's heart hurt. That little girl had to be one of the sweetest things she had ever met.

"Then Doc Greene will fix them up and make sure they get better." Daryl explained calmly.

"We're in here, Daryl!" Hershel called, setting the folder in his hands down on the desk as the Dixons entered the room, their dog Beau trailing behind them quietly. Daryl's eyes quickly darted to Beth but he looked away, focusing back on the dog he held in his arms who had started to squirm. He had wrapped it in his coat, but the dog was still shaking uncontrollably.

"Can you fix them?" Ann-Marie immediately asked, rushing up to Hershel with a small black-and-tan puppy in her arms. Her eyes were flooded with tears and Beth could see she had already been crying from the tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Well, let's take a look, sweetheart." Herschel said, gently taking the puppy from her arms and setting it on the exam table. Without a word, Daryl set the dog down and picked his daughter up around her middle, holding her on his hip so she could see what Hershel was doing. Beth stood as well, going over to stand at her father's side and help with the examination like she used to do when she was younger.

Hershel went over the puppy slowly, making sure to check the mouth, eyes and its joints thoroughly to see if there was anything wrong. "Looks good so far." He told Ann-Marie, giving her a smile. The girl only started back at him, resting her head on her father's shoulder. Beth knew she would only be satisfied once she was sure the dog was okay.

Hershel finished the exam by checking the puppy's temperature and heart. He slung the stethoscope around his neck, rubbing the puppy behind its ears as he smiled again at Ann-Marie. "This puppy's just fine. Heart rate is a little high, but she's probably just scared."

"How old do you think it is, Doc?" Daryl asked.

"I would put her around three months. She's on the small side, so I can't be sure. They're beautiful dogs, though. Can't understand why the owners left them." Hershel sighed, shaking his head while he moved on to examine the dog huddled by Daryl's legs.

"So she's going to be okay?" Ann-Marie interjected, looking at Hershel expectantly.

Hershel smiled and nodded. "Yes, she'll be okay. This one will be too, but I need to keep him for a few days. He's underweight, but we can get him back to normal in no time."

"Daryl set his daughter back down on the ground, running a hand over her hair. "What do you say?" He asked, looking down at her.

"Thank you!" She chirped happily. Beth smiled as Ann-Marie hugged Hershel around his legs, who patted her on the back. She then ran to Beth and did the same, squeezing tightly. "Thank you, Miss Beth." She said, smiling up at her.

Beth smiled, hugging her back. "You're welcome. They're lucky you found them."

"Beau found them. He wouldn't stop barking until we came over and looked." Ann-Marie told her.

"How much I owe you, Doc?" Daryl asked as he pulled out his wallet.

Hershel shook his head and held up a hand. "Don't worry about it, son. I'm just glad they're okay. I'll never understand why people mistreat animals like that." He sighed. "If you want, we can take them back to our farm and find a home for them."

"We can be their home!" Ann-Marie exclaimed. She grabbed on to Daryl's leg. "Daddy, can we keep them? Please?"

"We'd be outnumbered, sugar bean."

"But, maybe—

"How about this?" Beth interjected, crouching down to be on Ann-Marie's level. "If your Dad says it's okay, you can adopt one of them and I can adopt the other. Then you can still see him on the weekend when you come over for your lessons. But I call dibs on the big boy."

"Really?" He eyes lit up and she looked up at Daryl. "Can we?"

"Sounds good to me." Daryl nodded. You'll have to take care of it, though. And train it. It'll be your responsibility."

"Yes!" Ann-Marie bounced up and down, holding her arms out until Beth put the puppy in her waiting arms. She cradled it gently, holding it close. It yawned contently and promptly fell asleep in Ann-Marie's arms. "I'm going to put her in the car." She then hurried out of the exam room, the bell on the front door ringing as she left.

"I need to go make new files for these pups. I'll be right back." Hershel then left, the door to his office closing a few moments later.

"Thanks. This dog is almost bigger than she is." Daryl told Beth, rubbing the large dog behind its ears. His head reached Daryl's hip, and from experience Beth could tell that as soon as he started to get some meat on his bones, he was going to get a lot bigger, not to mention he hadn't even grown into his paws yet.

"Yeah, he's going to be big. But he's a sweetheart." Beth crooned, smiling when the dog licked her chin. She straightened, walking with Daryl back into the waiting room. "Do you need anything for the puppy?"

"We've got food back at the house. And I have a collar from when Beau was a puppy that'll fit her."

"Didn't you say you've had him for eight years?" Beth asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Daryl frowned.

"Nothing. Just didn't take you for the sentimental type." She smiled.

His ears turned red as he scoffed. "I ain't sentimental. Just never threw it out."

"Right." She nodded. "Do you still have Ann-Marie's baby shoes?"

"None of your damn business." He huffed, starting to walk to the door. "Can't believe I put up with you."

"No, wait! Wait. I'm sorry. Forgive me?" She asked. "I just like getting a rise out of you sometime. It's fun."

"Ain't fun to me." He grumbled.

"You do the exact same thing to me."

"Never have."

"Really? Not even once? Like saying you hate Tanya Tucker when you know I love her?"

Daryl shook his head, his lips twitching. "Nope. Doesn't ring a bell."

"Seriously though." Beth sobered. "Are you sure you don't need anything?"

Daryl nodded. "We'll be good."

"Okay, well, just call if you need anything."

"Might just call to give you crap about your bubblegum country taste."

Beth rolled her eyes, smiling when she saw a hint of a mischievous twinkle in his eye, the same one she had seen in Ann-Marie's when she knew she had gotten away with something. The same twist came back in Beth's stomach as she looked at him longer. _He's so attractive. And even though he hasn't mentioned the date, he still seems interested. We've been talking a lot more. Maybe I should do it._

 _Here goes nothing_.

"Daryl, I was wondering if you wanted to—

"Daddy!" Ann-Marie exclaimed, running back into the clinic. "There are lightning bugs outside!"

Beth shut her mouth, pressing her lips together as Ann-Marie interrupted her. This had to be a sign, or something. She was so stupid. Why was she even doing this? He was her student's father. It would be completely inappropriate. Even though they had both expressed their interest in each other, it would never work. And if it ended badly, it would completely ruin the dynamic they already had. Why did she automatically jump to conclusions? She should have known better.

"I'll be right there, sugar bean." Daryl said, resting a hand on his daughter's head before she darted back outside. "What were you sayin'?" He turned his attention back to Beth, his blue eyes making her melt partially inside.

"Nothing." She said, shaking her head. "It's not important. Have a good night."

He stared at her for several moments, making her shift uncomfortably under his intense gaze before he nodded. He pushed out the door silently, looking over his shoulder once at her before disappearing into the night.

"Stupid." Beth muttered slightly under her breath, kicking at the carpet slightly

"Well, that could have gone better."

She whipped around and saw her father leaning up against the wall, smirking at her. "Now I'm not saying I was an expert when I was your age, but I still could have done better than that." He joked, coming over and sitting down in one of the waiting room chairs.

"How much did you here?" Beth asked, knowing it was worthless to pretend what just happened didn't happen with her dad.

"Enough." Hershel responded. "Saw enough too."

Beth sighed, sitting down next to him on the hard plastic. "I don't know what to do." She admitted, knowing she could be honest with her father. "I like him, Daddy. But I'm his daughter's teacher. And we're finally starting to become friends. I don't want to ruin it, or have him think I'm too pushy. What if he doesn't want to be in a relationship?"

Hershel sighed, taking out his handkerchief and refolding it, like he often did when he was thinking hard about something. "Well, you just won't know until you ask him, will you?"

Beth stared back. "So you're not against it?"

"Bethy, I've known Daryl ever since he came into town. Even before little Ann-Marie came into the picture. He's a hard worker, and he cares about the people he loves, but he'll never tell them outright. He plays everything close to the vest. But from a bystander's perspective, he's more open with you than he's been with anyone since I've known him, save Rick and his daughter. He acts different around you. And I would bet my last dollar that he feels the same way about you that you feel about him." Hershel explained. "But you'll never find that out unless you take that step and ask him because if you wait on him, the world might end before he gets around to it."

"Gambling's a sin." Beth said quietly.

Hershel smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I think the Lord will forgive me for this bet."

* * *

 **Before we have a date, someone needs to make the first move, but who will it be? I guess we'll just have to wait and see!**

 **If you have time, please leave a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter! I love hearing from y'all.**

 **Thank you for reading! Until next time~**


	9. Chapter 9

**Who is this posting after a billion years? It's me! I'm really sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, this has by far been my most difficult chapter to write. It clocked in at 32 pages in Word, so it's a little lengthy, but there was a lot to get through to set it up for the next chapter. I hope you all like it!**

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Daryl was considering murder when he got a call at seven o'clock on a Saturday morning from Tobin, telling him they needed to go to their most recent project. The clients had insisted on a walkthrough and apparently didn't like how narrow the kitchen was, even though they had approved it on the blueprints Daryl had drawn up, and wanted the crew to widen it. If they wanted to keep on schedule, something they took pride in, they would have to fix it today or else they would be behind.

He quickly called Rick, knowing Carol was always busy at her shop on Saturday and wouldn't be able to take Ann-Marie to her piano lesson or soccer practice. Daryl dressed and put a half-awake Ann-Marie in the car and drove her to Rick's house, dropping her off along with Beau and Athena, their new puppy, at Rick's insistence, so he wouldn't have to watch all of them at the site.

"This is why we should ban clients from the job site until it's done." Daryl growled, throwing another 2x4 into the trash pile. "They think they know what they're doing and they set us back because we have to fix the shit they screw up."

"You just like complaining. Try being more positive for a change. It's not that hard to widen the kitchen." Tobin told him.

"It is when we already put the wiring in."

"Stop bitching, Dixon. It'll only take us a few hours to set the frame again, then we'll just call the electrician to come back out." Oscar shrugged.

Daryl shook his head, continuing to work on tearing down the wall frame and salvaging the pieces he could. He didn't want to admit it, but he was more upset that he wouldn't see Beth today. He knew she was trying to ask him out last night, and it was one of the only times he was glad they had been interrupted. He wouldn't let her do it before him. He was planning on doing it when he went over for Ann-Marie's lesson. There was a restaurant Rick had mentioned taking Lori to at poker night last Thursday, and it sounded nice enough that Beth might like it. _Maybe I could drop by tomorrow to fix that crooked-ass railing job she did. I can ask her then._

After several hours, they were finally done at the site, all the new framework put in to get ready for the HVAC, insulation, and drywall on Monday. He went back to Rick's to pick up Ann-Marie and ended up staying for dinner at Lori's request, or demand. When they got done at the Grimes', Daryl let Ann-Marie stay up with him once they got home as he worked on Shane's hooptie that he called a 'hot rod', even though it barely ran.

"Shane should just scrap this car." Daryl told Ann-Marie. "It'll never run."

"But then he can't pick up the ladies." Ann-Marie joked.

Daryl looked at her for a moment and shook his head. "God, Shane needs to stop watching you." He muttered.

They were quiet for a while as Ann-Marie played with Athena and tried very basic training from a book she had picked up at the library. Daryl glanced over every once in a while to make sure she hadn't wandered off.

"Daddy?" Ann-Marie said suddenly, walking over to where he was working.

"Mm."

"Why don't I have a mommy?"

Daryl hit his head on the car's hood as he stood up, biting back a curse word in front of his daughter and rubbing the back of his head as he looked at her. She watched him with wide eyes, waiting for her answer as bile rose in Daryl's throat. _Damn, don't have an answer for her. Thought I would have more time before she asked. Shit._

"Why do you ask that, sugar bean?"

Ann-Marie shrugged, handing him the wrench she was holding before standing on her tiptoes to look at the engine. "Miss Karen is having us make a project where we draw our family trees. Our daddy's family goes on one side and our mommy's family goes on the other. But she told me I only had to do yours because I only have a daddy." She paused. "Where did she go?"

Daryl sighed, closing the hood of the car. "I don't know, sweetheart. Come on, let's get inside." He moved all of them into the house and directed Ann-Marie to the bathroom so she could get a bath and hoped she would quickly drop the subject.

"Is she still alive?" No luck.

"I think so."

"Do you think she remembers me?" She continued while Daryl plugged the tub and turned on the water.

Daryl's heart clenched at the sad look on his daughter's face, followed by an anger that always came up when he thought of Emily. He wasn't mad that she had left him Ann-Marie, she was the best thing to ever happen to him. He was mad that even after all these years, he hadn't heard one word from her, not even a single letter asking how her daughter was doing. How he didn't have anything to tell his daughter about her mother, unless he wanted to tell her that she was the result of a drunken one-night stand, and how Daryl didn't even know she existed until Emily dropped her off at his apartment three months after she was born.

"Come here." He said softly, sitting on the toilet and pulling her up to sit on his knee. "She'd be an idiot not to remember you. But you don't need to worry about her. We've got our own little family, and one thing I know is that she's missing out. Who wouldn't want to be woken up by you at three in the morning 'cause you didn't listen to me when I told you Cool Hand Luke was too scary for you."

Ann-Marie giggled when Daryl tickled her belly, smiling when he finally saw her smile. "Let's get you a bath. You stink."

"I do not!"

* * *

"Your dress is just so beautiful, Beth, you can hardly tell that it was handmade." Mrs. Marmillion crooned outside of Church on Sunday. Most of the congregation was milling around the yard in front of the church, chatting and catching up on the week's events. Beth was Mrs. Marmillion's victim this week, backed against the church wall as she talked Beth's ear off, complete with her signature backhanded compliments. She kept looking over to her mother to rescue her, but it seemed Annette was too focused on her conversation with the pastor to notice, or was purposefully trying not to notice so she wouldn't get saddled with Paula Marmillion and commit murder in the church yard.

"Well, thank you. I worked really hard on it." Beth pasted on a fake smile. "If you want, I can make you a more sophisticated skirt suit for church, but I would hate for it to look too 'handmade'." Beth was able to escape as Mrs. Marmillion was reeling from Beth's retort, saying goodbye to her family and heading back home, ignoring the new noise her car was making which joined the other cacophony of sounds coming from her engine. _If I ignore it, it's not really happening._

Her strategy failed when as soon as she got into her driveway, her car spluttered and coughed one last time before a loud _hiss_ , followed by a puff of steam streaming from under the hood.

"Oh no no no, please don't." Beth begged, trying to turn on the engine again. There was a shuddering noise but it didn't turn over. "Please not now. I have bills to pay, please hold on." The car gave no response to Beth's continued attempts to restart it.

"Shit. Shit shit shit." She whispered, immediately calling Rosita as she walked up her front steps, opening the door just enough to slip inside, smiling when Riley ran up, circling her legs to beg for pets while Beth collapsed on the couch. Beth had convinced her dad to bring Riley home Friday night, knowing being near someone might help him acclimate more to a new environment instead of being cooped up in a kennel at the clinic. She had to feed him by hand to get him to eat that night, but he had already significantly improved in just two nights. You could see his ribs less, and he always stayed by Beth's side whenever she was home and the one time they went on a walk, even when Beth accidentally dropped the leash when one of her students came running at her for a hug. Beth guessed he had been around children before because he didn't shy away when Henry Shaw ran up to her. He really was a sweetheart.

" _Please explain why you're waking me up so early on a Sunday_." Rosita grumbled when she answered the phone.

"It's three o'clock. Are you seriously still asleep?" Beth frowned, even though Rosita couldn't see her.

" _I was up late last night talking to Abe. And by late, I mean—_

"Yeah, I know what you mean, I don't need any more explanation." Beth interrupted while Rosita laughed. "My car is dead. Could you come over and see if you can fix it?"

" _Have breakfast ready for me, and I'll be right over_."

"You mean lunch?"

" _Fuck you_."

Beth was ready with a bagel and a cup of coffee on the porch when Rosita pulled up ten minutes later, toolbox in tow.

"God, your coffee really is awful." Rosita grimaced after taking a sip. "It tastes like burnt motor oil."

"Keep criticizing my coffee and you won't get your actual food." Beth warned.

"Wait, are those your homemade ones? I'm sorry, please forgive me. Gimme gimme gimme." Rosita snatched the bagel from Beth's hand, shoving it in her mouth as she walked over to Beth's car. "Let's see what's going on."

Beth stayed quiet while Rosita worked, muttering under her breath about certain things, checking different parts of the engine. "Well?" Beth asked when Rosita pulled back.

"You were right. Your car's dead." Rosita concluded.

"Can you fix it?"

"I don't know, Beth." Rosita sighed, wiping her hands on the rag Beth handed her. "With all these repairs, it's going to still be a lot, even with discounts if we take it to the garage. I would do it for free, but my dad's on my ass for not making Lori Grimes pay for labor a few weeks ago."

"What should I do?" Beth questioned. She couldn't be without a car. She had to drive to the next town over for the private lessons she taught, and she didn't have the money to get a new one.

Rosita walked over to where she had dropped her bag on Beth's porch and scribbled something on a spare piece of paper before walking back to Beth, handing it to her. Beth looked down and saw Rosita had written a telephone number on it. "Call Daryl. He's good with engines, and he'll be able to get your car back up and running for basically nothing. Just needs you to pay for parts."

"I'm not taking advantage of him like that." Beth protested, trying to hand Rosita the number back. She felt her cheeks growing hot at the mention of Daryl. She wasn't afraid to admit she had been a little disappointed when Ann-Marie showed up with Rick instead of Daryl, Rick explaining that Daryl had a work emergency and couldn't make it. Even though she hadn't been able to get the courage to ask him on a date the night before, she had hoped she would be able to talk to him at least. Maybe try to figure out if her 'sign' last night was just her nerves telling her not to or if it really wasn't meant to be.

"He _likes_ doing it, Beth. My dad takes him the junkers he finds at yards all the time and pays him to fix them up. It's a hobby for him." Rosita said, crossing her arms.

Beth frowned and looked down at the number again. She didn't need it, she already had his number in her phone, but she didn't want to get any more grief from Rosita by telling her that. "You say he'll make me pay for parts?"

"More than likely. If not, you can probably find a way to convince him." Rosita smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Beth demanded.

"Everyone knows you two are sweet on each other. It's just taking a long time for you two to figure it out."

"We are _not_ sweet on each other." Beth argued, though she could feel her cheeks blushing.

"Alright. Then call Daryl Dixon about your car and then tell me what he says." Rosita challenged. "I'll jerry-rig your engine to make it as far as Daryl's place."

Beth rolled her eyes and dialed the number in her cell, taking a deep breath before pressing the call button. She waited several moments, listening to the ringing until she heard someone pick up the phone.

" _Hello?_ " Ann-Marie answered. _It must be their home phone_.

"Hi, Ann-Marie. It's Miss Beth. Is your daddy there?"

" _He's outside. I'll get him_." Beth heard her set the phone down before she distantly yelled for Daryl.

Beth waited until she heard someone else pick up the phone, her stomach jumping into her throat when she heard Daryl's gruff voice.

" _Hello?_ " He asked.

Beth swallowed thickly to try to clear her airway. "Hey, Daryl. It's Beth. I was wondering if I could ask you a favor. My car completely gave out on me, and Rostia says you're good with engines. I'll pay for all the parts and for the labor. It's alright if you—

" _Sure_." He interrupted. " _You know what's wrong with it_?"

"What's _not_ wrong with your engine." Rosita grumbled, holding her hand out for the phone. Beth handed it to willingly, out of her element.

"Timing belt, corroded battery cables and spark plugs on their last legs." Rosita waited for a moment. "Yeah, she's just put it off forever, and it's old as shit." Rosita stuck the phone back out for Beth.

" _You enjoy abusing your car_?" Daryl asked her once she raised the phone to her ear.

"I don't abuse it, I just didn't have enough money to pay the gougers they pass off as mechanics in Atlanta." She frowned.

" _Bring it on over and I'll fix it by tonight_."

"Thank you so much, Daryl. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this." She smiled.

He mumbled something unintelligible that sounded along the lines of 'No problem' before hanging up.

"Well, I got it patched up enough to make it over to your boyfriend's house." Rosita said, slamming the hood of Beth's car shut.

"He's _not_ my boyfriend." Beth protested again, but to no avail. The smirk on Rosita's face told Beth she didn't believe her.

"Sure he's not. Let me know how your date goes tonight." Rosita said, handing the keys back to Beth. "Don't take it over thirty, or else I'll be towing you to Daryl's." She warned.

Beth nodded and got Riley from the house before climbing back in her car, taking care not to drive her crippled car over thirty miles per hour until she was safely on the Dixon's gravel driveway. Daryl appeared on the front porch, making Beth's heart beat faster and her stomach drop. He was wearing his regular outfit of jeans and a t-shirt, but for some reason, the way his shirt clung to his torso and brought attention to how muscular he actually was caused Beth to blush. Thankfully, she was far enough away where he probably wouldn't notice. He motioned for her to drive around back, where she parked beneath a carport connected to the back of the house. When she stopped, Beau was immediately at her door, sniffing at her shoes and pushing his head into her hands once she had climbed out.

"Beau, back off." Daryl ordered, walking up to Beth. "Sorry 'bout him." He told her, patting the dog on his side when he started circling his legs.

"He's fine. Is this where you wanted me to park?" She asked, gesturing behind her.

He nodded, not saying another word as he walked up to her, standing close enough that Beth thought her heart was going to beat out of her chest. "You mind?" He rasped, gesturing behind her to her car.

"Oh, yeah." She said stupidly, moving out of his way. He opened the driver's door and bent over to push the button to pop the hood. Beth felt a flush come to her cheeks again as he reached down, allowing her a clear view of his backside. She looked up quickly until he moved around to the front of the car to look at the engine. She let Riley out of the back and he immediately went off across the yard to romp with Beau.

"So, how's the puppy doing?" She asked, breaking the silence between them.

"She's good. Eatin' us out of house and home, but Ann-Marie's in love with her." He said, smiling faintly at the mention of his daughter. Beth wasn't sure if he knew he was doing it.

"She told me her name was Athena. Where did she get that? I doubt Karen is going over Greek mythology in their class right now."

"She got her hands on a book about Greek myths in the library a few weeks ago." Daryl answered "Pro'ly read it 'bout five times by now. Be warned."

Beth laughed and looked around. "Where is she?"

"She's taking a nap right now. Wanted to wait 'til you got here, but we just got back from a hunting trip and she was beat. I made her go to bed." Daryl explained, nodding to a chair to his right when he noticed she was still standing. "You can sit down, if you want."

"Thanks." Beth said, taking his offer and sinking into the lawn chair. Beau walked over to her and placed his head on her knee, making a content noise when she started rubbing his ears while Riley laid down under her chair. "Catch anything?"

"Just a few rabbits. We usually go out on Sundays for a few hours. Still trying to teach Ann-Marie how to track." He responded, not looking up from her engine as he gestured towards the house. "You want anything, help yourself. I got stuff in the fridge inside if you're thirsty."

They fell into a comfortable silence after that, as Beth could tell he was trying to concentrate on her car. It allowed her to study him without him noticing. His face was even more serious when he was concentrating, if that were possible. He furrowed his brow while he worked and bit his lower lip slightly when he came across something particularly difficult. She wondered if he knew he did it, or if it was just something he did subconsciously. The way the muscles in his arms moved beneath his skin while he was working, taut like a bowstring and moving fluidly, was fascinating. Beth recalled Maggie telling her a few months ago that he had taken his brother to the ground in Axel's bar. It made Beth wonder just how strong Daryl really was.

"I'm going to go inside and get something to drink. Do you want anything?" Beth asked, needing to get some fresh air, away from Daryl to clear the train of thought her mind was going down and hopefully cool down. She felt uncomfortably hot, and it wasn't from the Georgia heat.

He looked at her and nodded. "Can you grab me a beer?"

She nodded and practically tripped into the house, making her way to the fridge and standing in front of it for several seconds with the door opened, trying to cool down.

"What are you doing, Beth?" She questioned herself quietly, shaking her head. No man she had ever been with had caused a reaction like Daryl had. She swore up and down both to herself and to everyone she knew that she and Daryl were just friends. She was his daughter's teacher, and they had just happened to form a friendship, or what she thought was one, because he was over at her house a lot for Ann-Marie's piano lessons and talking in her classroom. There was nothing more than that.

Beth sighed. Hopefully her brain would finally convince the rest of her body that she didn't, or shouldn't, have feelings for him, but even now she was beginning to doubt her logic.

She grabbed Daryl a beer and herself a can of soda before going back outside, the cold drinks immediately beginning to sweat in her hands once she stepped back into the Georgia heat. She handed Daryl his beer silently before sitting back in the chair she had vacated, watching him.

"Thanks." He grunted, popping the top off easily before taking a long draw. "Got your spark plugs replaced, rest of it shouldn't take too long."

"Thank you." She told him. "I really appreciate you doing this. How much will I owe you?"

Daryl shook his head. "Don't worry 'bout it."

"I'm not going to take advantage of you, Daryl. How much?" She pressed.

"I ain't takin' your money." He said firmly, fixing her with his intense stare. "I pulled the parts from a car Espinosa gave me that he found and couldn't fix. Didn't cost me nothin'."

"You're still taking your time to fix my car."

"Wasn't gonna do anything today anyway." Daryl grunted. "It's keepin' me busy."

"But you're—

"I offered to help." Daryl interrupted, fixing her with his piercing blue eyes. "You can't convince me just 'cause you're pretty."

Beth stared at him, her mouth hanging open slightly. Did he just call her pretty?

Daryl seemed to realize what he had said a little too late and turned away quickly, drinking long from his beer to keep occupied. Beth swore she saw him blushing. He set the beer down, now empty, clearing his throat as he turned his focus back on her engine, tuning her out completely.

They were silent for several minutes, Beth still staring at Daryl as he worked, hoping he was going to address what he had just said to her, but she knew him well enough by now that he wasn't going to. He was a man of few emotions, and if his statement would have been an Olympic competition, it would have won the gold for going out of his comfort zone.

"How long did you say it was going to be?" Beth asked, standing from her chair.

Daryl shrugged. "I can finish this up and work on the rest later." He offered, not looking at her.

"No, it's fine. If I'm going to be here for a while, I was wondering if I could make you and Ann-Marie dinner tonight. To say thank you." She suggested.

"You don't have to do that." He mumbled.

"I want to."

Daryl finally looked at her for a moment before turning away. "Might not be much in the kitchen."

Beth smiled. "I think I can manage." She walked back into the house, making her way to the fridge again to see what they had.

They really did have nothing in their fridge, besides several vacuum-sealed packages of meat, a few stray vegetables, soda, beer, and a jug of milk. She moved onto the cabinets and found better prospects there, but she didn't want to just make them spaghetti. That would be too easy. She wanted to show Daryl how much she appreciated what he was doing.

"Miss Beth?"

Beth turned around quickly and saw Ann-Marie standing in the doorway of the kitchen, rubbing at her eyes and looking thoroughly confused as her little puppy circled her legs. It looked like it was flourishing under the girl's care. "What are you doing in our house?" She asked.

"Your daddy is working on my car, and I decided to make you all dinner since he was busy. Do you have any requests?" She smiled.

Ann-Marie shook her head and moved to one of the barstools, climbing up into it to watch Beth work.

"How was your hunting trip today?" Beth asked, pulling out one of the packages of meat from the fridge and inspecting it, trying to figure out what it was.

"It was fun. I shot a rabbit." She told her proudly, smiling when Beth looked at her. "That's deer." She pointed at the package in Beth's hand.

"Thank you." Beth told her, setting it in the sink to let it warm up a bit. "And that's great. I bet you'll be the best hunter in Georgia when you grow up."

"Daddy's the best." Ann-Marie said firmly.

"I'm sure he is." Beth agreed. "Do you know if you have any more vegetables, sweetheart?" She was already starting to get an idea of what she wanted to make for their dinner tonight.

Hopping off of her seat, Ann-Marie walked over to the kitchen sink, opening the cabinet below it and grabbing a small step stool. Taking it, she set it right next to Beth and used it to climb up on the counter, opening a cabinet to Beth's right. It was filed to the brim with the vegetables Annette had given them several weeks ago. It looked like the Dixons had barely made a dent in the stockpile of canned goods she had sent home with them.

"Well, I think we'll be just fine on vegetables." Beth laughed. "Can you grab me a jar of carrots and a jar of beans?" She went back over to the fridge, noticing an unknown glass pitcher of brown liquid.

"That's deer broth." Ann-Marie explained, startling Beth as she appeared at her elbow. "We make it in the slow cooker."

"You really like sneaking up on people, don't you?" Beth asked, taking the broth and setting it on the counter.

Ann-Marie smiled. "It's fun. I like to see what people do." She held up the two jars of vegetables. "Where do I put them?"

"On the counter, by the stove." Beth directed. She looked around the cabinets and finally found a large pot, along with a cutting board and a knife to cut the vegetables and meat.

"What are you making?" Ann-Marie asked, trying to look up on the stove.

"Don't get so close. I don't want you to get burned." Beth guided her a few steps away. "I'm making deer stew."

"I like deer stew. Daddy's made it before."

"Well, I hope I can live up to his. Can you go get me three potatoes?" Ann-Marie hurried off to fulfill her task while Beth started cutting up the deer in the package and browning it in the pot. When Ann-Marie came back, Beth smiled down at her. "Good. Now can you wash them for me?"

They both became focused on their work as Beth moved on to cutting vegetables, taking the potatoes from Ann-Marie as she finished washing them to cut them and toss them in the pot with the meat and the deer broth.

"Your daddy told me you read the _Harry Potter_ books. Do you like them?" Beth asked once Ann-Marie was done washing, moving back to watch Beth from the bar.

Ann-Marie gave her an almost-offended look. "I _love_ them." She corrected. "They're my favorite. Me and Daddy read a chapter every night. I want to Hermione when I grow up."

"I thought you told me you wanted to be Mia Hamm." Beth responded, remembering something she had mentioned during one of their lessons when they were talking about how Ann-Marie liked playing soccer.

"I can be both. A wizard soccer player." Ann-Marie smiled.

"What Hogwarts house do you think you'd be in?"

Ann-Marie was quiet for several moments, obviously thinking hard about her answer. "I want to be in Gryffindor. But I think I'm a Slytherin. Daddy would be in Gryffindor."

"What makes you say that?"

"He kills the spiders." She stated matter-of-factly.

"I think we're going to need something to go along with this stew." Beth said once the stew was simmering on the stove. "Do you want to learn how to make biscuits?"

It didn't take long for both of them to get covered in flour as Beth stood behind Ann-Marie, guiding her hands to show her how to mix they ingredients together and fold the dough just enough so they would be flaky, answering all the questions she had about _why_ they were doing a certain thing, or why they had to add an ingredient. Beth was surprised just how many questions she had, how inquisitive she was. She wanted to know exactly what was going on, almost to the point where she could do it herself if Beth asked her to because she knew so much.

"Okay, now it's time to cut these. Do you know if you have a circle cookie cutter?" Beth started looking around in the drawers and miraculously found one, bringing it back over to Ann-Marie on her step stool. "Do you want to cut them?" No response.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Beth asked when Ann-Marie stayed silent. She looked over and saw the little girl staring at her left wrist, where her bracelets had ridden up and revealed the raised, thick white scar running along the inside of her wrist. She reached out and touched it gently, feeling the bump of healed skin.

"Daddy has scars like this. On his back." Ann-Marie murmured before she looked up at Beth with a frown. "Was your daddy mean to you?"

"No, sweetheart." Beth said, swallowing the ball that had formed in her throat at what Ann-Marie had just told her. She liked to think that she and Daryl were getting to know each other more, but she never expected to learn something like that about him. She had seen what she thought had been a scar on his shoulder when his sleeveless shirt had pulled back just a little bit the first time he had come over to her house, when she had asked him to look at it for her, but she hadn't felt it was her place to ask him, or anyone, about them. Or even mention it. She knew how uncomfortable she got whenever anyone asked her about her own scar. She couldn't imagine how Daryl might feel if she asked. It was obvious he hadn't given those to himself.

"No, I just did something stupid and it gave me the scar. But I'm all better now. Come on, let's get these cut and on to the sheet." Beth diverted the subject, pushing the thought of how she got her own scar out of her mind as they finished baking.

They finally got the biscuits in the oven and the stew was being kept warm on the stove, waiting to be eaten. "We have twelve minutes until the biscuits are done. Do you want to go outside for a bit?"

"Yeah. I want to see what Daddy's doing." She nodded.

"Lead the way." Beth smiled, following Ann-Marie outside.

"What are you working on, Daddy?" Ann-Marie asked, walking over to stand next to Daryl, peering over the top of the car to look at the engine.

"Miss Beth's got some things wrong with her car. I'm fixin' it up for her. Hand me the socket wrench?"

She walked over to the tool bench and grabbed the requested tool, handing it back to him. "Miss Beth made dinner. I helped make the biscuits."

"You did? It smells real good." Daryl said.

Ann-Marie turned back to Beth, beaming. Beth returned the smile. She obviously loved her daddy and was ecstatic when she got his praise. "Can I help?" She asked.

"Why don't you go inside to wash up and set the table. Me and Miss Beth will be right in." Ann-Marie disappeared inside the house, leaving Beth and Daryl alone outside in silence.

"How does it look?" Beth finally asked him. He started slightly as if he had forgotten Beth was outside with him and glanced at her before looking back at her car.

"I've got most of it done. Should just be a few more minutes after dinner before I get it all the way done." He answered, reaching into his back pocket for the rag he always kept there to wipe his hands from the grease and oil covering them. "You really didn't have to make dinner."

"It was no trouble. I wanted to." The oven timer sounded from inside the house.

"Miss Beth! What do I do next?" Ann-Marie called.

"Don't touch the oven!" Beth and Daryl yelled at the same time. Beth looked to Daryl with a small smile. "We better get in there before she burns your house down."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Daryl grumbled, opening the screen door for her before they walked inside.

Dinner was more boisterous than Beth would have expected. Ann-Marie still dominated the conversation, but it allowed Beth to take a step back and observe Daryl. He listened to his daughter like everything she had to say was more important than anything in the world, giving her his undivided attention even when she went on for ten minutes about a butterfly she saw when they were out hunting that morning, one she was sure he wouldn't usually give a thought to if he had been out by himself and declared the biscuits the best he had ever had when he took a bite, making Ann-Marie look like she was going to burst with pride.

"Miss Beth, have you ever been hunting?" Ann-Marie asked, turning her attention to Beth on the other side of the table.

Beth was careful to fully chew and swallow her food before speaking so she wouldn't choke. "Once, before, with a friend from high school. I'm not a very good shot. I almost took my friend's ear off."

"You close your eyes when the gun went off?" Daryl asked.

Beth looked at him and immediately looked away when she was the one who now had his attention, his gaze intense on her. "It was louder than I expected." She grumbled.

"Mm." Daryl was actually smirking when she looked back over at him. "Looks like Miss Beth can't come with us anytime soon if we want to keep our ears."

"It was _one time_."

"Daddy could teach you." Ann-Marie offered, looking between the two adults. "He taught me and Carol."

"That's okay. I wouldn't want to waste your time."

"It wouldn't be a waste of time. Take an afternoon and I bet you might hit the target at the end." Daryl deadpanned.

"Oh, I don't think so. I'm sure my aim would be good enough to hit you." Beth shot back, smiling when he gave her a shocked look. "Don't dish it if you can't take it, Mr. Dixon."

The Dixons didn't have a dishwasher, so when they finished eating Beth helped Daryl and Ann-Marie to wash their dishes from dinner before they all went outside. Beth sat in the chair she had been in earlier while Daryl went to her car and started working on the engine again. Ann-Marie immediately went to the toy box to Beth's right to dig around. She finally extracted a soccer ball and held it in front of her as she looked at Daryl.

"Can I go over to Sophia's house to see if she wants to play?" She asked.

Daryl looked at her and nodded. "Yell if you need me."

Ann-Marie smiled and took off towards the Peletier's, dropping the ball on the ground and dribbling it across the large yard.

"She's good." Beth commented, looking back to Daryl.

"Yeah." Daryl said, smiling slightly. "Thanks for making dinner."

"No problem. It kept me busy instead of just hovering over you."

Daryl glanced at her before looking back to her car, tightening something before stepping back and closing the hood of her car. "Climb on in. Let's give it a go." Once Beth was situated in the driver's seat, Daryl stood in the space between her open door and the car, putting one hand on the door and the other on the top of her car. "Okay, turn it over."

Beth turned the ignition, grinning as the engine roared to life, sounding as good as it did when she first got it. No weird rattling noise when she started it up, followed by hissing that made Beth worry it was going to explode on her while she was driving and end up on the news. She turned towards Daryl and hopped out of the car, throwing her arms around Daryl's neck as she laughed with happiness. Her car _finally_ worked.

She felt Daryl stiffen instantly when she touched him, then relax, letting her hug him until she finally realized what she was doing. Her eyes widened and she immediately stepped back, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Sorry, I just…" Beth took a deep breath and managed a smile. "Thank you."

Daryl cleared his throat and nodded. "Sure."

Even after stepping back from him, Beth's heart was still racing while she watched him start to clean up his tools from around her car. She kept trying to deny it, but it was getting harder and harder to tell herself to just forget about Daryl Dixon. They saw each other almost every single day, they could talk easily to each other, and she had to stop herself several times from calling him to tell him good news, or something exciting, or just to talk to him because he always seemed to be on her mind.

It was one thing to be friends with a student's parent, but it would probably be completely against protocol if she were to start a romantic relationship with them.

To hell with protocol.

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" She blurted out, staring at him expectantly as his head whipped up to look at her. When he didn't answer right away, she immediately began to backtrack, her stomach twisting in knots. "I mean, if you want to. I know it's a little odd, since I'm Ann-Marie's teacher, but I thought maybe—

"Yes." He answered simply, cutting her off with what she recognized was his version of a smile, his lips quirking up slightly.

Beth stared at him for a moment, processing his answer, before breaking out in a grin. "Cool! I mean, that's great. So, should I meet you somewhere or just text you later?" Beth now realized she had no plan.

"I'll pick you up at seven on Friday. Are you free?" Daryl asked. _How does he still look so calm_?

Beth nodded, her cheeks hurting from smiling. "Okay, I'll see you then. Or tomorrow. Whichever. I mean you might be busy tomorrow." She opened the back door to her car to let Riley in and then opened her driver's door. She gave him one last smile before climbing in her car and backing out of the driveway, waving goodbye to Ann-Marie. Her stomach was still fluttering when she made it back home, and she couldn't stop smiling. Friday couldn't come fast enough.

* * *

"Why are you wearing your bank clothes, Daddy?" Ann-Marie asked, climbing up on his bed to watch him as he looked in the mirror anchored on the wall. It was Friday before Daryl even knew it, and it just then had sunk in that he was about to go out on a date, an actual date, without interruptions for the first time. He kept taking deep breaths to keep from going crazy. He wasn't scared of anything, but if he had been nervous to ask her out on a date so much that she ended up asking him first, he was scared shitless thinking about going on the actual date.

Daryl sighed, shrugging out of the shirt. "Don't know, sugar bean. What do you think of this?" He held up a long-sleeved flannel shirt to show her.

She nodded in agreement. "What is it for?"

"I'm going to go out tonight with a friend." He told her, not wanting to say that it was Beth. He knew how much Ann-Marie liked Beth and didn't want to get her hopes up, just in case he fucked up and the date didn't go well.

"Is that why Uncle Rick and Aunt Lori are coming over to watch me?"

"Yeah. I'll probably be back after you go to sleep, but I'll come in and say good night. Go on into the living room, I need to finish getting ready."

It only took a record ten minutes after Rick and Lori had gotten to the house to get Ann-Marie to let Daryl leave, finding every possible excuse to get him to stay, or for him to bring her with him. Before Ann-Marie had started school, they had spent almost all of their time together, and after school and on the weekends they were always together. Sometimes he worried she didn't have a lot of friends her own age was because they spent so much time together.

After bribing Ann-Marie with the promise to bring something back as if he were going to China and not Savannah, Daryl took the short drive to Beth's house and saw she was already waiting on the porch by the time he pulled into the driveway, sitting on the front steps. She gave him a bright smile and walked to his truck as he stepped out to meet her. She had curled her hair and pinned up some parts of it, and she was wearing a lacy white dress with cowboy boots. _Damn, she's gorgeous_.

"You look nice." She smiled. "I like your shirt."

"Might be one of the only things I own that's nice. You do too." Daryl responded. "You ever gonna let me come up to your door? Or are you gonna stand there each time waiting like I'm late?"

"If you feel that strongly about it, I'll make sure next time I wait until you get all the way out of your car, and all the way up the steps, just so you can walk me all the way back to your car. Would that make you happy?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, it would." Daryl answered. "Trying to be a gentleman." He walked Beth to the passenger's side and opened the door for her, making sure she and her dress were both inside before he shut the door and climbed in on his side.

"Am I giving you comments at the end of the night?" She smiled.

"Yeah. Leave your card in the box on the way out."

Beth laughed, looking out the window as he started to drive. "So? Where are we going?"

"That'd ruin the surprise."

Beth was silent. "You're doing this just to bother me."

"Yep."

"That's going on the card, Mr. Dixon."

Beth, as usual, did most of the talking as they drove to Savannah. Daryl was just happy to be with Beth, and that she had done what he couldn't and finally initiated the date they said they were going to go on. He hoped him arranging everything for the evening made up for him wussing out and causing Beth to take initiative, as long as nothing got screwed up tonight. He wanted to impress her.

"You're really not going to tell me where we're going?" Beth asked, looking out the window when they finally reached Savannah.

"You're impatient, aren't you?"

"I prefer to be called an ardent gatherer of knowledge."

"Fancy way of saying impatient." Daryl said, smirking when Beth frowned at him, then thinking against it. _Probably shouldn't make fun of her on a date_. Daryl finally parked near the restaurant, a small place on the coast that was already packed with people on a Saturday night. He wondered if he should have worn something besides jeans and a flannel shirt after seeing another couple walk in looking dressed to the nines. He doubted it really mattered. As long as they could pay, which he could, it wouldn't matter what he wore.

"Oh, I've heard of this place. Lori was telling me about it at the staff meeting last Friday. She and Rick went here a few weeks ago. I wonder if the food is as good as she said. She has some strange obsession with octopus. Yeah, I know." Beth agreed when Daryl pulled a face. "I'm sure they have regular food though."

Daryl plucked up enough and took Beth's hand as she climbed out of the truck, keeping a hold on it as they started to walk to the restaurant. Beth smiled up at him and stepped closer, their arms gently bumping into each other during the walk. _She liked it. Good_.

There were more people all dressed like they were going to a wedding when they stepped inside the restaurant, and Daryl was then sure he should have worn his bank clothes. Some of them gave Daryl sidelong glances at his attire, but he was just focusing on Beth. She looked like she could fit in with this crowd.

"All these people look like stiffs. It's still eighty degrees outside, who wears a three-piece suit?" Beth's voice was suddenly in his ear, her hand squeezing his. "Who wants to sweat into their food?"

A snort of laughter escaped Daryl as they made their way to the check-in podium. "We have a reservation under Dixon." Daryl told the host. He had made the reservation earlier this week to ensure they didn't have to wait and have any awkward small talk.

The host looked through the computer and shook his head. "I don't see any reservation for Dixon. If you want, you can wait for a table to free up."

"I made the reservation Tuesday. It's not there?"

The host didn't bother to look again. "No, sir."

"Then how long is the wait?"

"An hour."

"An _hour_?"

"Really Daryl, it's okay." Beth rested a hand on his arm. "There are plenty of other places we can go eat. And I'm sure they're not half as stuffy as this place." She added with a smile.

Daryl relaxed at her touch but still couldn't help but be pissed that his plan for a nice night for Beth got shot in the face. He spared one last glare at the host as he allowed her to lead him out of the restaurant and on to the street.

"Let's walk this way and see what we can find." Beth started walking down the sidewalk, turning back to Daryl when she noticed he wasn't following. "You coming?"

"You sure you don't want to go back in there and wait? The food's probably better than anything else we can find 'round here." Daryl watched as Beth smiled and shook her head, continuing to walk down the street. _This woman_. Daryl took a few long strides and caught up to her quickly, looking over at her as she scouted for another place.

"Are you craving anything in particular?" Beth asked. Daryl shook his head. To him it didn't matter where they ate. The night had already gotten thrown off-course, he just wanted to salvage it.

"What about this place?" Beth asked.

Daryl looked over and saw the place was a complete dive, more in line with a bar that happened to serve food instead of a restaurant, or even a diner. There were several motorcycles parked outside, their owners already looking Beth up and down. Daryl stepped in their line of vision and gave them his best _Back the fuck off_ glare, taking Beth's hand possessively.

Beth obviously hadn't noticed how far beneath this place was for a person like her and smiled up at Daryl when he took her hand. "It looks like it could be good. The food's probably nice and greasy. Let's go." Beth didn't wait for his answer before dragging him inside to a table near the window.

"I wonder what they have." Beth mused, grabbing the menu propped against the napkin dispenser and laying it flat so they both could see it. "The sandwiches look good."

Daryl stared at her until she looked up at him. "What?" She asked.

"You sure you want to eat here? It's not very…" Daryl tried to find the right word without insulting her or making her think that she was a snob. She definitely wasn't. And he didn't want to ruin the date anymore than it already was. Daryl didn't mind that the floor was sticky and it probably hadn't had a deep clean since it opened. He'd been in worse places when he used to follow Merle around, but Beth was nice and kind and _clean_ that she immediately stood out and looked like she didn't belong, especially in her white dress.

"Refined?" She answered with a small smile. "I think it's perfect. Besides, I don't need to eat at a fancy place like that other one to have a good time. I'm just happy to be with you." She spoke truthfully but didn't realize it until she looked back down at the menu. Daryl watched as her eyes widened and a blush stained her cheeks. Apparently the date wasn't going as horribly as Daryl thought.

"What can I get you two?" A college-aged waiter appeared who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else than working in the bar.

"Can I get BLT and a coke?" Beth asked.

"I'll get a steak sandwich and whisky." Daryl told him. The waiter came back with their drinks and left them to go put in the rest of their order.

"I wonder if they have a playlist or if they have a jukebox." Beth looked over to the other section of the bar that held a few pool tables, all currently occupied. "Do you want to play a round after we eat?"

"Looks like they're playing for keeps. You got anything you're willing to lose?"

"I left my cash at home, and I'm not about to gamble my cards. I don't think anyone would want my teacher's salary anyway." Beth smiled.

They stayed quiet for a few moments. Daryl watched as Beth drummed her fingers on the tabletop with one hand and traced the rim of her glass with the other, her focus on watching the bartender mix drinks with a skill that made Daryl wonder what the hell they were doing in a hole like this where the most complicated order was probably a Jack and coke. Their order came out, taking some of the stress away of having to make conversation because they were eating.

"Still liking your new house?" He asked, clearing his throat.

"Yeah. It's a lot less lonely with Riley now. I'm glad to be out on my own." She admitted.

"It's good you've at least got a dog. It's not safe living by yourself."

"So I've heard. Apparently, Coleson is a lot more dangerous than I remember." She smirked. "Nothing bad ever happens, Daryl. I'm pretty sure most people keep their front doors unlocked."

"Still. You never know what idiots might roll through and try something."

Daryl and Beth looked out the window at the street when the roar of several motorbikes slowly grew louder, becoming almost deafening as a group of at least ten sped bikes raced down the street past the restaurant, going well over the speed limit.

"Dicks." Daryl muttered.

"My brother rides those." Beth commented, gesturing with a straw to the bikes as they disappeared.

The back of Daryl's neck immediately grew hot, realizing he had just shoved his foot in his mouth. "Yeah?"

She nodded. "He's a motocross racer. It drives my parents crazy. He never rides them down the street like that, though." She looked at him, her eyes smiling. "Those guys were jerks."

Daryl guessed the look on his face was mild shock because Beth's smile grew. "What? Was jerks too mean for you?"

Daryl shook his head. "Just surprising. I don't think I've heard you say something mean to someone. Besides me."

"I only tease people I know can take it. I'm not that cruel. Or am I?" It was Daryl's turn to give her a look that made Beth laugh. _Hell yeah_.

The rest of the night went the best Daryl could have guessed. After they ate, they went over to the pool tables and played several rounds, where Daryl learned Beth was a burgeoning pool shark after she cleaned out three bikers and caused them to make a quick getaway when they started to get some glares.

"I can't believe you took all their money. It's like you were trying to get me beaten up." Daryl said once they were safely back in his truck, taking off like Bonnie and Clyde back to Coleson.

"You wouldn't have gotten beaten up. And even if you did, that would have made for a memorable date." Beth smiled, then her face grew serious. "I'm sorry I put us in danger."

"It's fine. They didn't look that tough."

"One of them had a piercing through the bridge of his nose."

Daryl paused. "He might have been a decent fight."

"Well, I had a lot of fun tonight. Thank you." Beth smiled, turning to him after she had unlocked her door. "Do you want to split our winnings?"

Daryl shook his head. "You keep it. You can use it to buy more dress stuff." Beth nodded and put the money back in her purse and stood there, looking at him. _Shit, what do I do now? Do I kiss her? She's staring at me like I should do something. Fuckin' idiot._

When Beth took a step forward, he panicked and took an involuntary step back out of instinct to keep anyone out of his personal space. "I should get home to check on Ann-Marie."

The surprise and hurt on Beth's face was instant, but she quickly schooled her expression back to neutral with a small, forced smile. "Good night." She murmured, opening the door to her house quietly and slipping inside before Daryl could even say a word.

* * *

Beth closed the door silently behind her, clicking the lock into place. She hadn't been expecting a kiss, but had the date really been _that_ bad? He hadn't even made a move, and when she had reached up to kiss him on the cheek, he stood there stiff as a board. This was going to ruin everything. They had a nice banter going, almost like they were friends, then she had to go and allow herself to start _like_ liking him. She was the stupidest person on the face of the planet. Why would he even be looking for a relationship? He had Ann-Marie to take care of. Adding someone else would probably be too much.

She sighed, resigning herself to the fact that it was going to be the most awkward meeting ever the next time she saw him as she walked towards her bedroom. She'd better start practicing her apology now.

A sudden banging on her front door made Beth jump. That must be Daryl. No one else would come here this late, and she hadn't heard his truck pull away. What could he possibly want from her? Rub salt in the wound caused by their apparently terrible first date?

 _Guess I don't have time to practice my apology_. Beth sighed internally, padding back towards her front door and opening it, seeing Daryl standing there, looking flustered. She immediately became concerned, opening the door wider to get a better look at him.

"Daryl? Is there—

Daryl surged forward, cutting her off as he pressed his lips to hers, both his hands coming up to gently frame her face. Beth raised her hands in shock as he kissed her, startled by the sudden and definitely unexpected gesture on Daryl's part. But as his lips moved carefully against hers, she recovered, closing her eyes and leaning into it as she rested her hands on his biceps. He tasted faintly of smoke and the whisky he had at dinner, and something else that Beth couldn't identify that was just _him_. Her stomach was doing somersaults at his touch, and she feared that her heart was going to beat out of its chest from how rapidly it was contracting. The kiss was exhilarating, borderline intoxicating. And Beth only wanted more.

She moved her arms up to wrap around his neck while one of his hands traveled down to the small of her back, gently pressing her closer to him, his other tangling in her hair, running through it and tugging at the ends. His lips were supple but still firm, guiding her confused mouth until she finally responded to his ministrations. She started to feel lightheaded, both from the pure exhilaration of their first kiss and the fact she had somehow forgotten to breathe. _In and out, through the nose_.

She whimpered slightly when he pulled back, his eyes searching hers for any sign of disapproval, but Beth knew he wasn't going to find any. If she was still planning on telling herself she didn't want Daryl Dixon, that was blown out of the water the moment his lips touched hers. For her, there was no turning back now.

"Good night." Daryl finally said, leaving Beth semi-paralyzed from shock in the doorway as he walked back to his truck, climbing in and pulling out of her driveway while Beth was only able to blink after him.

 _Oh boy_.

* * *

 **Again, I'm really sorry this chapter took so long to get out. The good news is, this was the hump I was trying to get over, so the rest of it should be on a semi-regular schedule (as regular as I can be). I really appreciate your support, it brightens my day to see your comments.**

 **If you have time, please leave a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter! I love hearing from y'all.**

 **Thank you for reading! Until next time~**


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